Class _ 



Book_i 



I 



1 



/ 



Hampton and His Cavalry 
in '64. 



BY 



/ 



EDWARD L. WELLS, 

CHARLESTON, S. C. 



Zs r 




RICHMOND, VA.: 
B. F. JOHNSON PUBLISHING COMPANY, 
1899. 



57+ 1 

Library of Gengr 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 



Office of the 

DEG191&9H 

Register of Copyrights, 



49571 

Copyright, 1899, 

BY 

B. F. Johnson. 



SECOND COPY, 



CONFEDERA TES, 

LIVING AND DEAD, 
AND TO 
ALL OTHER TRUE SOLDIERS, 
WHATEVER 
THEIR FLAG OR FAITH, WHO WOULD 
FIGHT TO THE DEA TH IN A 
RIGHTEOUS CAUSE, 
THIS BOOK 
IS 

DEDICA TED. 



! 



PREFACE. 



This book is intended to be a sketch of that por- 
tion of the military career of Lieutenant-General 
Wade Hampton embraced in the campaign of 
1864, when he commanded the Cavalry, which was 
then an important part of the fighting power of the 
Army of Northern Virginia. 

The facts related are based upon documents and 
letters in the possession of General Hampton and 
memoranda prepared by him, to which he has been 
kind enough to permit me to have access. Most 
of these were, by General Robert E. Lee's request, 
arranged for his use when he had the intention of 
writing the history of his campaigns. Other 
sources of information and verification, of which I 
have made use, are official reports and correspond- 
ence contained in the " Official Records of the 
Union and Confederate Armies," published by the 
United States War Department, and also authentic 
evidence furnished by eye-witnesses of the events, 
or by those conversant with the facts referred to. 

It has been the writer's purpose to avoid in this 
narrative all exaggeration and artificial description, 
believing that the facts alone best tell the story of 
that momentous period, when the fate of the North- 
ern as well as of the Southern Confederacy was 
daily trembling in the balance. 

E. L. W. 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



General Wade Hampton „ Frontispiece 

The bather surprised by General Hampton 31 v- 

Colonel Wade Hampton, of the War of IS 12, father of Gen- 
eral Wade Hampton . 53 ^ 

Lieutenant- Colonel Frank Hampton, slain in the battle of 

Brandy Station, younger brother of General Hampton, 69 " 
The battle of Brandy Station, Culpeper county, Va., June 

9, 1863 - . . . . 89 , < 

Preparing for the field. From many of the humbler homes 

came many of the finest sold iers 105 v 

Map of Central Virginia ..' 119 

Wade Hampton, Lieutenant- General, C. S A 143- v 

An improvised hospital. This icas a barn turned hurriedly 

into a receiving station for icounded men 163 

Capturing a Federal wagon train. Uncle Sam aiding the 

Confederate Quartermaster's Department .... 179 v 

The explosion of the caisson, which seemed to give the signal 
for the victorious charge at Trevilian's, Louisa county, 

Va., June 12, 1864 . 207 ^ 

Lnfantry capturing a Federal battery 221 

General Hampton's sicord . . . 233 v 

A night's rest. Typical scene in a Confederate cavalry 

camp -. . . ...... 251 V 

General Wade Hampton of the wars of 1776 and 18 12. The 

grandfather of General Hampton 261 v 

Fitz Simons house, Hasel street, Charleston, S. C, birth- 
place of General Hampton 275 > 

The beefsteak raid, Prince George county, Va 297 v 

South of the James ...... 315 ■ i 

Lieutenant William Preston Hampton, A. D, C, mortally 

icounded at battle of Burgess Mill 331 

Father and son 347 

Lieutenant Wade Hampton, eldest son of General Hampton, 

icounded in the battle of Burgess Mill ...... . . c71 ^ 

A favorite tree of General Hampton's in the grounds at 

Millwood 395 * 

Ruins of Millwood — General Hampton's home—near Co- 
lumbia, S. C, destroyed by Sherman's armies 417 v 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter. Page. 

I. BIRTH, ANCESTRY, AND EARLY LIFE 

CHARACTERISTICS SPORTSMAN— COT- 
TON-PLANTER TELE WAR IN THE 

INFANTRY TRANSFERRED TO CAV- 
ALRY. ..... C 

II. THE CAVALRY IN 1 864 — -SUBSISTENCE, 

ARMAMENT, HORSES, &C. . . 78 

III. POSITION OF THE ARMIES BEFORE THE 

OPENING OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 

1864 SURPRISE OF KILPATRICIv's 

FORCE DAHLGREN RAID. . . IO7 

IV. REORGANIZATION OF HAMPTON'S DIVIS- 

ION COMMENCEMENT OF THE CAM- 
PAIGN WILDERNESS SHERIDAN'S 

R I C PI M O N D R A I D DEATH OF 



6 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter. 



Page. 



stuart hampton in command 

composition and numbers of the 
corps — sheridan's corps, and num- 
ber OF MEN HAWES' SHOP MA- 

TADEQUIN CREEK; — ASHLAND COLD 

HARBOR. . . . . .124 

V. THE TREVILIAN CAMPAIGN. . . 1 87 

VI. THE WILSON RAID. . .229 

VII. PICKETING SHERIDAN TRANSFERRED 

TO COMMAND IN THE SHENANDOAH 
VALLEY DIVISION COMMANDERS OR- 
DERED TO REPORT DIRECT TO HAMP- 
TON CHANGE OF STAFF. . . 2 50 

VIII. CHANGES IN THE FEDERAL AND CON- 
FEDERATE CAVALRY FORCES, AND THE 

NUMBERS OF EACH ENGAGEMENTS 

OF AUGUST 1 6TH AND 1 7TH ON THE 

NORTH SIDE OFTHE JAMES BUTLER'S 

SUCCESS ON AUGUST 2 3D AT REAMS 
STATION BATTLE OF REAMS STATION 



IX. 



THE CATTLE-RAID THE SCOUTS. 



ON AUGUST 25TPI. 



267 
287 



CONTENTS. 7 
Chapter Page. 
X. ROSSER AND THE " LAUREL BRIGADE " 

DETACHED THE FIGHTING SOUTH 

OF THE JAMES DURING THE LAST 

DAYS OF SEPTEMBER BATTLE OF 

BURGESS MILL, OCTOBER 27TH 

FIVE FORKS AND LEE'S LETTER TO 
HAMPTON ABOUT THE RESULT. . 31 2 

XI. CAMP CORRESPONDENC E STONY 

CREEK MILES TRIES TO ATTACK THE 

RIGHT FLANK WARREN'S RAID ON 

THE WELDON RAILROAD END OF 

THE CAMPAIGN OF '64 HAMPTON 

ORDERED TO SOUTH CAROLINA 

MORALE OF BUTLER'S DIVISION 

CAPTURE OF KILPATRICK'S CAMP 

THE LONE D A M S E L BUTLER'S 

C II A R G E " BUCKLAND RACES " 

THE CHALLENGE. . .. . 368 



< 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY 

IN 



CHAPTER I. 



BIRTH, ANCESTRY, AND EARLY LIFE CHARACTER- 
ISTICS SPORTSMAN COTTON-PLANTER THE 

WAR IN THE INFANTRY TRANSFERRED TO 

CAVALRY. 



IEUTENANT- GENERAL WADE 
HAMPTON, C. S. A., the subject 
of this sketch, was born in Charles- 
ton, S. C, on March 28, 181 8. In Hasel 
street, within sound of the chimes of old Saint 
Michael's bells, he first saw the light. The 




10 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

watchman's voice from the tower giving assur- 
ance that "All's well!" had that day special 
meaning in the light of future events. 

The great-grandfather of our General came 
from Virginia to the Colony of South Carolina 
previous to the Revolutionary War, and settled 
in Spartanburg District. Here he and most of 
his family were murdered by the Indians in 
1775. Several of his sons, including the grand- 
father of the present General Hampton, were 
absent from home at the time, and thus escaped 
the massacre, and all of them afterwards served 
in the war waged for its independence by the 
colony against the British Crown. Wade 
Hampton, the grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch, belonged to the cavalry commanded 
by Colonel Washington, and was lieutenant- 
colonel at the battle of Eutaw. In all the fight- 
ing of those stirring days that cavalry was ever 
prominent, and the swish of Hampton's sabre 
always heard in the charge. This sword has 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 11 

been carefully preserved in the family of its 
bearer, and has the look of one made for use. 
The blade is much curved, broad, and scimiter- 
like, suitable, when wielded by a stalwart arm, 
for dealing telling blows, but not so well adapted 
for thrusting, which is now accounted more 
deadly. 

The Colonial forces operating in this section 
at that period were small in proportion to 
those of their adversaries. They experienced 
trying times, but fought stoutly and well, and 
their work largely contributed to, if it was not de- 
cisive of, the final general result of the contest. 
Modern imperialists, who are carried away with 
the fallacy that God always favors the heaviest 
battalions, may sneer, if they can find it in their 
hearts to do so, at the smallness of the numbers 
of the Colonial fighters in this section, but one 
has never yet heard the Spartans of Ther- 
mopylae twitted or belittled on the same ground. 
The authority of McCrady, the historian of 



12 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

South Carolina, unsurpassed in research and 
conscientious statement, may well be quoted 
here : 

" We shall attempt to show to how great 
an extent the ultimate result of the whole 
Revolutionary struggle in the country was 
dependent upon the operations of the parti- 
san bands of South Carolina and her two 
neighboring States. 

x- * * * * * 

" We shall undertake to show that it was 
by these voluntary uprisings of the people 
of South Carolina, with the assistance of 
their friends in North Carolina and Georgia, 
that the whole of the enemy's plans were 
foiled, frustrated, and broken up, and the 
grand culmination of Yorktown rendered 
possible. 

* * ■* * * * * * 
" We venture to believe that the record 
we shall present will show that no one of 
the thirteen original States of the Union suf- 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALRY. 13 

fered so severely in the War of the Revo- 
lution as the State of South Carolina ; that 
in no one was there so much actual warfare ; 
in no one was there such an uprising of the 
people ; in no one was there so much accom- 
plished for the general cause, and that with 
so little assistance." 

The author from whom we have just quoted 
adds that he has a list of 130 battles, engage- 
ments, etc., which took place in South Carolina 
during the Revolutionary struggle, and that the 
records show " there was actual fighting in 
every county in the State, at present organ- 
ized, but three, and that these three were 
traversed by both armies." 

In the War of 181 2 the Wade Hampton of 
Revolutionary fame was one of the generals 
sent to the Northern frontier, and there again 
he battled for the common cause of the States. 
That the military successes in that theatre were 
not more brilliant was due to no fault on his 



1 4 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VA LR Y. 

part, but to reasons not necessary here to 
revive. 

The wars ended, the old General resumed 
his agricultural pursuits. He was among the 
very first, if not the first, to grasp the idea of 
the paramount importance, for his section, of 
cotton culture, and entered largely into it with 
the same good judgment and sturdy resolution 
that had distinguished his military career. As 
a consequence, he amassed a fortune, and left 
to his descendants a very large estate, in which 
were comprised extensive tracts of productive 
land in Mississippi and Louisiana as well as in 
South Carolina. As we have said, he came to 
South Carolina from Virginia, the " Old Domin- 
ion," the mother, whose vigorous blood can be 
traced in a large proportion of the most 
prominent men of action in the South and 
W est which our country has produced. Hamp- 
ton is another instance of this descent. His 
characteristics were marked, and would have 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VA LB Y 15 

made themselves felt in any occupation he 
might have pursued. To his dying day he re- 
tained an imperious will, which would brook no 
interference with his own rights, nor tolerate it 
if attempted against weaker neighbors. To 
maintain right and fair play, and, in doing this, 
not to count closely the odds against him in 
war or peace, were his actuating principles, and 
those disposed to give heed to the laws of 
heredity, inexorable for weal or woe, are not 
surprised to recognize the same traits in his 
distinguished grandson. A little thing will 
sometimes better illustrate the bent of charac- 
ter than a greater. Old General Hampton in 
his later years was on his way one summer to 
the Virginia springs to drink the waters and 
take a rest. It was the custom of those hospi- 
table days for the traveler to stop with his horses 
for the night and lodge at almost any con- 
venient house where darkness overtook him. 
It was in this way, as local philologists assert, 



16 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

that was originated the name of a well-beloved 
Southern dish, ''hopinjohn." At the door of a 
planter whose larder, strange to say, happened 
just then to be slenderly provided, appeared 
one evening the genial face of an acquaintance, 
who announced that he had ridden in to pass 
the night, and to him cordial welcome was given. 
Said the kindly planter, as he warmly shook his 

euest's hand, and conducted him to the house : 

<_> ' 

"Right glad to see you. Sorry I have no- 
thing for you to eat except rice and peas and a 
chine of bacon, but we will do the best we can 
for you. Hop in, John ! " 

So John "hopped-in" doors, and for so doing 
deserves immortal fame, for he christened an 
excellent dish. 

Old General Hampton, on the occasion above 
mentioned, stopped for the night at a friend's 
house, and, being an early riser, was found by 
his host next morning quietly sitting in the shade 
of a tree near the porch, on one of the branches 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALB Y. 17 

of which were hanging the decapitated mortal 
remains of a huge turkey-gobbler. In reply to 
the look of surprise on his host's face, the old 
General remarked : 

"I had to kill him. He was strutting about 
and beating all the smaller fowls, and I could 
not endure it. It was not fair play." 

The unhappy owner of the offending bird 
admitted that his favorite's fate was deserved, 
comforting himself with the reflection how 
steadfastly the old gentleman had formerly fol- 
lowed the same principle in dealing with Tarle- 
ton's fierce troopers. 

Colonel Wade Hampton, father of the present 
General, was a planter with extensive interests 
and large estate. He was very fond of thorough- 
bred horses, and raised some of the finest this 
country has produced. Noted as a patron of 
the turf, his motives were only the sport and 
improvement of the breed of horses, and not 
the greed of winning stakes. At his fine old 



18 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

place, Millwood, some five miles from Colum- 
bia, where the spacious mansion was burned by 
Sherman, was a private race-track, to be seen 
to-day, where his horses were exercised and 
trained. His heart was as large as his means, 
and his generosity as broad as his acres, and 
he was beloved by everyone. It was said he, 
never was so happy as when presenting a well-, 
bred horse or bull of pedigree to some friend, 
who especially admired the animal. His home 
was one where the charm of plantation life was 
well illustrated, and where fat, contented ne- 
groes gave living proof of happiness in their 
sheltered existence. In this circle, where kindly 
feelings and gentle, attractive manners held 
sway, unostentatious bountiful hospitality was 
to be found by all comers ; planters, sportsmen, 
and men of culture, all worthy of it, found wel- 
come without reference to the depth of their 
purses. Among others, George Bancroft was 
a visitor. That was in the days of the first edi- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALE Y. 19 

tions of his history, before the results of the 
Civil War had induced him to re-write, in a dif- 
ferent sense, for later editions those portions 
dealing with the States' Rights controversy. 
Times change and we change, it is true ; but 
how can facts change ? 

A young friend of the Hampton family was, 
at one time, a student of the South Carolina 
College at Columbia, and each week, on Fri- 
day afternoon, was in the habit of riding out to 
Millwood, where he remained a guest until the 
following Monday morning.* His horse he kept 
during the week at a public stable in the town. 
Now, Colonel Hampton was a trustee of the 
South Carolina College, and it was prohibited 
by the letter of the law of the Institution for 
any student to keep his horse, as it was sup- 
posed to be a source of distraction from studies. 
It was, however, a law more honored in the 
breach than the observance. But the Colonel 
was punctilious in his regard of rules, and could 



20 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

not countenance any infraction of them, and, on 
the other hand, was so kind-hearted that it 
made him miserable to interfere between his 
young friend and his horse. So he contrived 
a way out of the dilemma. One day he said : 

" I think you had better sell that horse." 

This was, of course, accordingly done. When 
the following Friday came round the student 
went to a stable in the town to hire a horse to 
ride out to Millwood for his accustomed visit. 
But the stableman led forth a fine thorough- 
bred, saying : 

" Colonel Hampton sent this horse here and 
said he was to be kept for your use as long as 
you are at college." 

^ Colonel Hampton was not much concerned 
in politics, but in war, true to his blood, he was 
to the front. He served on the staff of Gen- 
eral Jackson at the battle of New Orleans, that 
brilliant victory won by the hardy men of the 
Southwest against great odds, largely composed 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 21 

of Wellington's Peninsula Veterans, the stout- 
est fight ever made on American soil, until the 
actions of the Civil War eclipsed it in glory. 

He was sent as bearer of dispatches announc- 
ing the glad news of the victory at New Or- 
leans, and his was the first authoritative infor- 
mation of that memorable event received by 
the President. Those were times before steam 
and electricity had been harnessed by man, and 
to accomplish his purpose the Colonel found it 
necessary to ride overland to Columbia, S. C, 
a distance of about seven hundred and fifty 
miles. Accompanied by his negro servant, 
mounted, and with one led horse, he performed 
the journey in ten days and a half, averaging 
seventy-two miles a day, including one day, 
when, owing to the streams being swollen by 
a freshet, only seven miles were made. In the 
greater portion of the route he traversed a very 
sparsely-settled region, much of which was 
wild, primeval forest. For three hundred miles 



22 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

it was necessary to carry subsistence for man 
and horse. Bridgeless rivers and swamps were 
encountered. He rode the same horse from 
start to finish, and, strange to say, the gallant 
animal was not one of his own thoroughbreds, 
but had been picked up by his father a year or 
two before from a cattle-drover, whom he had 
met one day on the road when traveling. The 
old General had the keenest of eyes for a fine 
horse, and fell in love with this one at first sight. 
So he stopped the man and offered to buy his 
mount. The fellow refused to sell, but was 
willing to exchange. "But, man," said the 
General, "my horse is worth five hundred dol- 
lars." "So is mine to me," replied the drover, 
and the bargain was made accordingly. No 
doubt the animal was well-bred, although of un- 
known pedigree, for he proved his blood. 

At nearly the same time that Colonel Hamp- 
ton made this famous ride, a very different kind 
of traveling party was wending its way from 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 23 

the North towards Washington. It consisted 
of five commissioners sent by Massachusetts 
and. Connecticut, in pursuance of the report of 
the Hartford Convention of the New England 
States, to confer with the President of the 
United States in regard to certain amendments 
to the Constitution, styled by them "The Fed- 
eral Compact," which they were to insist upon 
as a condition precedent to their States con- 
senting to remain in the Union. When arrived 
at their destination these gentlemen found 
themselves in an awkward position and were 
greatly perplexed, for the first sounds which 
greeted their ears were the shouts of the peo- 
ple hailing with transports of joy the proclama- 
tion of peace. But, like sensible men, as they 
were, they concluded to make the best of the 
situation, said nothing about their mission, left 
the official documents in their trunks, put on 
evening dress and paid their respects to the 
charming hostess at Mrs. Madison's reception. 



24 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRr. 

This was, in fact, a Peace Jubilee. In the 
rooms all was gaiety and happiness, every face 
beaming with smiles, but when the Commis- 
sioners entered a funereal silence fell upon 
the company. Matters were soon set right, 
however, by Mrs. Madison's admirable tact, and 
the pleasures of the evening resumed ; but we 
may well doubt whether the five gentlemen in 
question enjoyed themselves overmuch. 

In the sunshine of Millwood the present 
Wade Hampton learned the sturdy virtues "to 
ride, to shoot, and to speak the truth," and in 
its charming atmosphere was imbued with the 
refinements of life, acquired the scholastic 
knowledge suitable for a gentleman, and evolved 
the attractive personality which has exerted so 
powerful an influence on all with whom he has 
come in contact ; which has made him dear to 
friends and proved a spell to open the hearts of 
his foes. This marked characteristic was of great 
service to the masses of his countrymen of the 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 25 

North, as well as of inestimable benefit to those 
of the South during the terrible culmination of 
the Reconstruction Period in 1876. Then, in 
his State stood arrayed against each other — 
grasping their weapons — on one side educa- 
tion, intelligence, property, and civilization ; on 
the other, the reverse of all these — the negro 
and the carpet-bagger, leaning for support on 
the then existing Federal administration. The 
former demanded either a return of representa- 
tive government, or else the rule of the naked 
bayonet pure and simple. This was no vague 
threat of non-combatant politicians or idle boys, 
but the stern — if despairing — resolve of veteran 
soldiers, well proven on many an historic field. 
If the fires of civil war had been then relighted 
no one can say where or when they would have 
been extinguished, but it is certain the effect on 
the North, as well as on the South, would have 
been lamentable, and not improbably subver- 
sive, eventually, of free government through- 



26 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

out the entire land. There was no man then 
living, except Hampton, able to stand forth 
from among his fellows as the Great Pacificator, 
who could extract out of chaos a modus vivendi 
between the discordant elements. This was 
rendered possible by his previous record, and 
largely by that indefinable personal influence 
which men, for lack of a better term, call 
"magnetism," and the conviction among all 
classes that he would act with generosity as well 
as with justice, and that the weak were as safe 
as the strong under the aegis of his protection. 
The inner history of this period, properly writ- 
ten, would prove very interesting, and it is to 
be hoped it will be taken up by some compe- 
tent hand while there is yet time, for death is 
constantly at work removing the actors and 
those behind the scenes. Such an account of 
mere facts would indeed be stranger than 
fiction ; would abound in pathos and romance, 
thrilling adventures, almost incredible situa- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 27 

tions, revealing much that is most exalted as 
well as most debased in human nature. It 
would exhibit a vivid picture of the most re- 
markable descent, for a time, to primitive con- 
ditions, which has probably ever been witnessed 
among Western nations since the days of 1793. 
Imagine the necessity imposed on every man, 
however averse to violence, of always- — day and 
night, at his office or club, his home or at 
church — being armed to the teeth, ready at any 
moment to protect his own family or assist his 
neighbors, well aware that no remedy from law 
existed, but that a constant menace from its 
perverted forms was ever present. 

The amiability of Hampton's nature was re- 
markable and it is not a little singular that, 
though personally the hardest of fighters, he was 
scarcely more popular with his own men than 
with those of his enemy. Once in Virginia he 
came upon a Federal who was taking a bath in 
a stream of water, having left his clothes upon 



28 - HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

the bank. So the General quietly told him he 
was a prisoner. The man was dumfounded 
at this, not being aware the Confederates were 
near at hand, and supposing himself quite se- 
cure. He begged and plead to be let off, 
using every argument he could think of, per- 
haps (among others) that he was a non-combat- 
ant detailed to the Quartermaster Department, 
which at the time furnished about as many sup- 
plies to the Confederate as to the Federal army. 
The General thought it was needlessly hard to 
pick up the poor fellow in this way, but still he 
would have his joke. After amusing himself by 
letting his captive continue his supplications for 
some time, Hampton at length consented to let 
him go free, at which the man was delighted, 
and most profuse in thanks, and came ashore 
to put on his clothes. But the General said : 

"Ah ! No ! I can't let you have them. My 
men are too much in need of clothes. I can't 
spare them." 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 29 

After fruitless entreaties the Federal finally 
left for his camp, naked as when he was born, 
and the last words heard from him were thanks, 
and 

" I'll name my first son Wade Hampton ! " 

Many years after this occurrence, the then 
Senator Hampton stepped into an elevator in a 
hotel in Washington ; as he did so a young man 
said to him, 

"Are you General Wade Hampton ? " 

On his replying that he was, the stranger 
asked if he remembered capturing and releasing 
a naked Federal prisoner at a certain time and 
place in Virginia. 

"Yes. I recollect it perfectly," answered 
Hampton. 

"Well," said the stranger, "he is my father. 
My name is Wade Hampton. Good morning, 
sir" — 

and stepped out of the elevator at his floor. 
Early on the morning of March n, 1865, 



30 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

Johnston's army was crossing the Cape Fear 
river at Fayetteville, N. C. The infantry, artil- 
lery, and wagon-trains had nearly effected the 
crossing, which the cavalry were covering. 
Sherman's forces in overwhelming numbers 
were pressing up. General Hampton was near 
the hotel in the town, when one of his best 
scouts, Hugh Scott by name, galloped up, and 
told him that the enemy were close by in the 
next parallel street, a company of them having 
come through a by-road, which had not been 
picketed, and that more were behind them. 
The situation was critical. If the enemy suc- 
ceeded in wedging in between the rear of the 
retreating army and its cavalry, the rear-guard, 
it would entail disaster. The cavalry would 
thus be cut off from covering the retreat, and 
the bridee across the river, which it was essen- 
tial to burn after the crossing was completed, if 
left intact, would afford the Federals the oppor- 
tunity of swift pursuit. Not a moment was to 



The lather surprised by General Hampton. [31] 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 33 

be lost. A cavalry leader must be able both to 
think and to act with the rapidity of a flash of 
lightning, and that Hampton did on this occa- 
sion. He realized that an ounce of prevention 
is worth a pound of cure in war as well as in 
disease, and that one man's services at the nick 
of time may be more valuable than those of a 
thousand a few minutes later. So calling to 
the scout and two members of his staff to follow 
him, and picking up three privates from Com 
pany K, 4th S. C. C. (Charleston Light Dra- 
goons), then serving as escort to General Butler, 
and also one man said to be from Wheeler's com- 
mand, whose name is unknown, and who was 
perhaps killed in the melee, the General dashed 
round the corner and gave the order, "Charge ! " 
His seven followers (there were no others in 
the charge) obeyed with alacrity, and all, the 
General leading, flung themselves upon the 
Federals, who were drawn up in the street. 

These fired a volley with their carbines, but by 

3 



34 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

that time the Confederates had struck them, 
and confused by the suddenness of the attack, 
the fierce yells, and the powder-smoke, they did 
not realize the small number of their assailants. 
So they tried to wheel about to run, but among 
them there were pistol bullets at close quarters, 
and the hack and thrust of sabres. Less than 
a hundred yards down the street was a turn at 
right angles to the left into the by-road by which 
they had entered the town, and by which they 
were endeavoring now to escape. Here they 
became jammed together in confusion, all or- 
ganization lost, and their pursuers cut and thrust 
like devils incarnate as the fugitives probably 
thought. Eleven Federals were killed and 
twelve captured, and the rest, many of them 
wounded, fled in wild panic carrying conster- 
nation to their friends, with excited tales of 
hundreds of "men in buckram," as the best 
will do in such circumstances. Strange to say, 
so far as known, the only casualty in the attack- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 35 

ing party was suffered by a handsome well-bred 
mare ridden by one of the privates mentioned. 
A rifle bullet struck her fair in the chest and 
came out just behind the saddle-girth, and yet 
the plucky little thing showed no signs of 
diminished vitality for ten minutes afterwards, 
and then patiently lay down to die. The pa- 
thetic expression in her soft, dark eyes would 
have elicited compassion from a heart of stone. 
Thus had Hampton grasped the situation, and 
applied the remedy, for the crossing of the river 
was then made without further trouble. The 
Captain, Duncan, of the Federal company, was 
among the prisoners. He reported his com- 
mand as numbering sixty-eight by the morning 
report that day. There was also taken in the 
charge a Federal spy, David Day by name, 
dressed in Confederate uniform. When he was 
brought in General Hampton told him he had 
no time to attend to him then, but that when he 
had got across the river, he would have him 



36 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

hanged. The spy was turned over with the 
other prisoners to the keeping of some Junior 
Reserves, and when inquired for at night, it 
was found he had escaped from his guard. 
When General Hampton soon afterwards, in 
company with General Johnston, met some of 
the Federal officers prior to the capitulation, 
they told him that this man was one of the best 
scouts in the army, and that he had been cap- 
tured three times since they had left Savannah. 
They also said, they thought, if he did not turn 
up the next morning after the Fayetteville fight, 
he would not be seen again, but that he reported 
on time. And now for the sequel and the point 
of the story. 

Thirty-one years after this fight Hampton 
was in Denver, Colorado. A stranger called 
upon him at his hotel and spoke of having been 
among the Federals in the Fayetteville charge. 
Hampton told him of the spy in gray whom he 
had intended to hang. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 37 

"I'm the man," remarked the stranger. 

"Well," replied Hampton, "I said I would 
have you hanged as soon as we got across the 
river. I certainly would have done it if you had 
not got away, but I am glad the hanging did not 
come off." 

"So am I," said the other, laughing. 

Day published an account of the fight in the 
local newspaper the next morning and was very 
laudatory of Hampton, and the number of killed 
he credited him with was fabulously large, when 
the correct bag was surely heavy enough to 
satisfy the most exacting. He was apparently 
quite proud of being connected with the General 
even in this way, just as others during the war 
took credit to themselves in being hacked by 
his sabre, if they lived to tell the tale. 

Wade Hampton was a graduate of the South 
Carolina College, at Columbia, S. C, but re- 
ceived no military education. Many of his sum- 
mers were passed among the mountains of 



38 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

Western North Carolina. There are to be 
seen the loftiest peaks and highest plauteaus 
east of the Rocky Mountains, the scenery com- 
bining the grand and the picturesque in a man- 
ner altogether unique. As, standing on some 
height, you look northward towardsA sheville, 
against the sky-line runs the long chain of the 
Balsams, crowned with the trees from which their 
name is derived, and further on the Blacks rise 
seven thousand feet in altitude, but wrapped to 
their summits in rich verdure, and of these Mount 
Mitchell is monarch by divine right. Nearer to 
you, but many a mile away, is Pisgah, of moun- 
tains made the queen by plebiscite, in virtue of 
her beauty, her profile clear-cut, like a handsome 
human face, with form soft, graceful, and lovely 
as some fair girl's. To the west are towering 
upward the Smokies on the Tennessee line, 
which countless ages ago in vain arose a mighty 
physical protest against the invasion of civiliza- 
tion. Close at hand are Whitesides and his 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALBT. 39 

lovable old comrades, hoary with age, mellowed, 
softened, and beautified by years, like those of 
our own kind with whom time has dealt gently. 
Southeastward, as far as the sea, three hundred 
miles away, stretches an immense plain dotted 
with towns and villages, farms and forest, but 
in every other direction are countless mountain 
ranges and their outlying foothills, in the dis- 
tance not unlike Titanic waves of a vast ocean. 
Scanning the scene you soon detect the back- 
bone of the system, the Blue Ridge, running 
north and south, farther than eye can follow, 
through Virginia and Pennsylvania, forming the 
water-shed between the Atlantic and Western 
States. Then you will probably be led to reflect 
upon the fact that this rocky wall and its gigantic 
flankers once represented the geographical line 
of demarkation, the racial " great divide," be- 
tween the rivals during centuries, opposites in 
civil and religious creeds, the Saxon and Celt. 
You will recall that in the struggle between 



40 HAMPTON AND EI8 GA VALMY. 

these for mastery in America, and in the world, 
Wolfe, dying victorious on the Heights of 
Abraham, pictures one grand achievement, but 
that the contest was finally and forever settled 
by Thomas Jefferson through the acquisition of 
that vast region, then mostly unexplored, known 
as Louisiana, extending, according to French 
titles transferred to us, from the Mississippi to 
the Pacific, and as far north as the Great Lakes. 

Climate and scenery are moulders of body 
and mind. It is a belief, old as history and 
widespread as the family of man, that the 
mountain ranges and their rocky fastnesses 
have ever cradled the hardiest and freest of 
races. It is pleasant to think that this beautiful 
country may not have been without influence 
on the character of the greatest cavalry leader 
of our civil war. 

By hereditary tendency and personal habit 
Hampton was an accomplished sportsman, and 
that region then abounded with deer and bear, 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 41 

as well as smaller game. At times, in the still- 
ness of night, the fierce shriek of the panther 
might be heard. In the immediate section he 
frequented, east of the water-shed, near Cash- 
ier's Valley, there were at first no trout, although 
they existed at the time in the streams of the 
western slope. Hampton carried live fish in 
buckets across the ridge and liberated them in the 
eastern waters. They increased rapidly in their 
new habitat, and the finest of speckled beauties 
soon abounded there. It is said that he who 
causes one seed of grain to grow in ground 
which never before produced human food, has 
conferred a greater boon upon his fellow-men 
than anything statesman or warrior has. ever ac- 
complished. There must be credit due to him, 
then, who, besides stocking the waters with 
useful food, furnishes sport to the enthusiasts 
of the rod. 

Hampton's skill as a fisherman was great ; 
trout, black bass, and salmon could rarely resist 



42 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 

the attractive cast of his fly, but no less at- 
tractive was his companionship to all sorts and 
conditions of men. Only last summer (1898) 
a friend of the writer made a fishing trip in 
New Brunswick, where he enjoyed fine sport. 
His guide, a past-master with rod as well as 
paddle, a half-breed, or rather mixture of many 
breeds, speaking English broken into small 
pieces and with much difficulty, somehow dis- 
covered that his charge was from South Caro- 
lina. So he said one day, eking out the con- 
versation with gestures and many pauses : 

"You iz fro' Sous Caliny ? " 

-Yes." 

"Then the swarthy face lighted up and he 
continued : 

" Me know one great, great fisher fro' Sous 
Caliny ; kill de big salmon ; much, much ; tree, 
four year 'go. Right here ! " patting the birch- 
bark canoe. 

" What was his name ? " 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 43 

"He name ? One big, large, grand Seigneur, 
grand Gin'ral — Gin'ral — Gin'ral " — pausing re- 
flectively — " me no tink de name. Only one 
leg 'e iz." 

"General Hampton?" 

" Yiz, yiz ! him, him ! " 

And the fellow beamed with delight and 
smiled all over. 

But, fond of sport though Hampton was, 
many was the morning in Cashier's Valley 
when he neglected his rod, good-naturedly 
amusing children, teaching them to fish, some- 
times with no better tackle than a bent pin, a 
piece of cord, and a light sapling, or "pole," as 
the " natives " term it. 

Nor were the summers spent by the Hamp- 
ton family in their mountain home a mere pas- 
time of tourists, but of material and lasting 
benefit to their surroundings in the improve- 
ment of manners and morals. Many of the in- 
habitants of this sparsely-settled region were 



44 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

descendants of those who, coming from other 
communities, had left their country for their 
country's good to seek a refuge where trackless 
forests and mountains barred the service of 
legal process, and where the equally rugged 
borders of three other States near at hand 
offered a ready asylum to anyone too much 
" wanted" at home. It was related of one 
worthy residing in this district that his house 
consisted of only three rooms, but each of these 
was in a different State, and consequently it 
would require three sheriffs, from three different 
States, duly provided with warrants, and all pres- 
ent at the same time, to abridge this citizen of 
his personal liberty when within his castle. To 
these people in that day was thus afforded by 
the Hamptons the civilizing, educating influence 
exerted by those of gentle birth and culture. 
Fair hands and kindly hearts dispensed charity 
by gracious words and deeds in many a rude log- 
cabin clinging to the mountain-side, or nestled 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 45 

in the lonely "cove." No wonder that among 
them Hampton became a name to conjure by. 
Later on, towards the end of the Civil War, in 
that inaccessible section, military as well as civil 
power became practically nullified, and thou- 
sands of deserters from both the Federal and 
Confederate armies congregated there. Deser- 
tion, from whatever flag, "Nothing cans' t thou 
to damnation add," not even slander of poor 
Desdemona, "greater than that," and well was 
this exemplified by this brotherhood of traitors, 
whose only article of belief was the socialistic 
creed that for anyone, except themselves, to 
hold property was a sin against "humanity." 
But even in those disjointed times all ears were 
not deaf to the spell of the Hampton name, and 
the traveler will still find it potent there after all 
these years. 

Prior to the Civil War Hampton's very ex- 
tensive planting interests were in Mississippi, 
where he usually resided during the winter 



46 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 

months. The acreage which he had under cul- 
tivation in cotton the year before the war was 
estimated to be good for a crop of 5,000 bales, 
and, besides this, food supplies were raised. To 
give some idea of the value of such a cotton 
crop, one need but calculate what it would have 
sold for in New York at the average price for 
i860 of bales of the weight then customary 
from that section, which would have been a 
quarter of a million of dollars in gold. At the 
average value of 1864 it would have brought 
three millions of dollars, or at the maximum 
price of that year four and a quarter millions in 
United States currency, but that was during the 
cotton famine and in depreciated greenbacks. 
The occupation for brain and body furnished by 
such a large agricultural business would be of 
an exacting character. The habit of command 
over so many hundred negroes, and numerous 
agents and overseers thus necessitated, was not 
a bad school for some of the practical details of 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 47 

war. But time was found for field-sports, and 
he was noted throughout that region as a bear- 
hunter, and was reputed to be the only man 
who, after killing one of these animals, could 
without help lift the carcass upon a horse to 
carry it home, a feat requiring great strength as 
well as skill. 

In regard to Hampton's political attitude in the 
controversy between the Northern and Southern 
States of the Federal Union, little need here 
be said. He would naturally, we must sup- 
pose, hold the doctrines now styled "States' 
Rights ; " for these were then almost univer- 
sally current in the South and common in all 
other sections, having hardly been seriously 
called in question anywhere until the second 
quarter of the present century. He would be 
aware that these principles were not only or- 
thodox, according to the Jeffersonian school, but 
were also strictly in accordance with the faith con- 
scientiously held by a large majority of the best 



48 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALE Y, 

and most influential people in New England. 
Such well-known and esteemed men of that 
section as Johnson, Ellsworth, Sherman, Hill- 
house, Quincy, Gardener, King, Lowell, Dwight, 
John Quincy Adams, and very many others had, 
as all well-informed persons know, put them- 
selves on record as endorsing the most ex- 
treme views of "States' Rights," including se- 
cession, either by direct assertion or necessary 
implication. It was a matter of public noto- 
riety that New England newspapers of stand- 
ing and influence, as well as their public meet- 
ings and Legislatures, had declared absolute 
adherence to these dogmas, and the Hartford 
Convention had put for all time its most solemn 
seal of approval upon them. To anyone holding 
these views, the denial of the right of secession 
and oposition to it by armed force, would seem 
absolutely revolutionary, without any sanction in 
law — a rebellion ; and, like all rebellions, having 
no legal standing, unless acquiescence was ob- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR Y. 49 

tained through successful exertion of physical 
power. To those of this generation, educated 
from childhood in the belief that the subject con- 
tended for in the war by the South was the per- 
petuation of negro slavery, and by the North its 
extinction, the inner history of the War of Seces- 
sion will ever remain as a sealed book. Mr. 
Lincoln and the Congress of the States remain- 
ing united again and again declared, in the 
most solemn and candid manner, that negro 
slavery was not the casus belli, but that the pres- 
ervation of the Union was ; in other words, the 
denial of the right of secession was the cause. 
Undoubtedly the right to own slaves was an in- 
cident of the struggle, in the same sense as was 
the right to own houses, lands, mules, or any 
other species of property, recognized as such 
by law. If you desire to grasp the actuating 
idea which fired with valor the Confederate 
armies, you must first read their hearts and un- 
derstand that they believed themselves dying, 

4 



50 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

as their Anglo-Saxon forefathers were willing 
to die for "life, liberty, and property." 

But to believe in the rieht of a State to 

«_> 

secede from the Union was a very ■ different 
thing from desiring the principle to be put in 
practice. 

The idea that the writer has formed of Gen- 
eral Hampton's views on this subject are that, 
like Robert E. Lee, he was very far indeed from 
being an "original Secessionist," but that he 
thought it his duty to abide by the decision ar- 
rived at by his State, and bear true allegiance 
to her. No one can for a moment suppose that 
men like Lee and Hampton, whose families had 
done so much towards winning the independ- 
ence of the States forming the Union, would 
lightly wish to witness a disruption of the asso- 
ciation. These were not penniless, embittered 
adventurers, but gentlemen of position, and 
when they pledged to the cause "our lives, our 
fortunes, and our sacred honor," they furnished 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 51 

three very substantial hostages for their good 
faith and the sincerity of their convictions. How 
many, on either side in the controversy, can say 
so much? 

But the die being cast, there was no morbid, 
nervous hesitation on the part of Hampton. 
The season for argument was passed and the 
time for action come, and vain regrets worse 
than useless. He thought as the old Moorish 
king said when refusing payment of tribute to 
the Spaniards: "Our mint coins nothing now 
but sabre-blades and lance-heads." 

He raised the Hampton Legion, which he 
commanded with marked ability at the first bat- 
tle of Manassas (Bull Run), where he received 
a wound in the head. This Legion was com- 
posed of six companies of infantry, four troops 
6f cavalry, and one battery of artillery (Wash- 
ington Artillery). Such an organization proved 
ill-adapted to the requirements of a great war, 
and consequently the different arms of the service 



52 HAMPTON AND HM CAVALRY, 

were separated, and each became the progeni- 
tor of a famous body of its kind. It was corps 
d' elite. Of its original members two became 
Lieutenant-Generals, Hampton and Stephen D. 
Lee; one a Major-General, M. C. Butler; three 
Brigadier-Generals, Conner, Gary, and Logan. 
Many more were prominent in other ranks. 
Hart's battery, in which Halsey and Bamberg 
were lieutenants, and which thundered on nearly 
every battle-field in Virginia, formed at first a 
part of the Legion. 

On the bloody field of Seven Pines, Hampton 
was again wounded, after performing gallant 
and effective service. 

On July 28, 1862, he was transferred to the 
cavalry in Virginia, as Brigadier-General, his 
command consisting of the Hampton Legion of 
Cavalry (afterwards Second South Carolina 
Cavalry, Colonel M. C. Butler), Jeff. Davis 
Legion, Cobb Legion, First North Carolina Cav- 
alry, and Tenth Virginia Cavalry. That brigade 



Colonel Wade Hampton, of the war of 1812, father of 
General Wade Hampton. 
[From a oust by Powell, burnt at Millwood.] 



(53) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 55 

figured very prominently in making the early 
history of the cavalry of the Army of Northern 
Virginia. At its head, and second in command of 
the cavalry of the army, rode Hampton in J. E. 
B. Stuart's famous raid in August, 1862, round 
Pope's flank and rear. This Federal general it 
was, who issued some very spirited despatches 
dated " headquarters in the saddle." It was well, 
for he was left with little else. Not only were all 
the headquarter' s papers, correspondence, and 
other property taken, but also Pope's private lug- 
gage. A full-dress uniform of his, all gorgeous 
with gold lace and epaulettes and profusely de- 
core with medals, was afterwards exhibited in the 
show-window of a store in Richmond and created 
much amusement. This was done in joke, by 
way of retaliation. It had happened that shortly 
before, Stuart, when accidentally separated from 
his command and accompanied by only two or 
three members of his staff, was very near being 
killed or captured by the Federals, and though 



56 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 

he escaped, lost his hat and cloak. These were 
shown as trophies, and fun was made at his ex- 
pense. But he vowed he would "get even," 
and this he accomplished in a mere than ample 
manner, as just described. 

In the Chambersburg raid in Pennsylvania 
(October, 1862,) Hampton was at the front as 
second in command. It was an expedition 
memorable for its daring and success, but, bet- 
ter still, for the magnificent discipline of the 
troops, and the scrupulous respect for private 
property which always characterized their move- 
ments. Only subsistence was taken, and horses 
impressed, and for these regular official receipts 
were in all cases given according to the system 
practiced by civilized armies, thus furnishing a 
voucher entitling the owner to make claim to 
compensation by his own government. The 
nature of their conduct was brought into un- 
usual prominence through the accounts of the 
affair written by Colonel A. K. McClure, of the 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALE Y. 57 

Philadelphia Times. This gentleman had a 
" model farm" at the outskirts of Chambers- 
burg, and was one of three citizens who surren- 
dered the place to General Hampton, to whom 
Stuart had assigned the duty of preserving 
good order. He thus describes his first meet- 
ing with General Hampton when acting as one 
of the town committee : 

" After traveling a mile westward we were 
brought to a halt by a squad of mounted men, 
and were informed that General Hampton 
was one of the party to whom we should 
address ourselves. It was so dark that I 
could not distinguish him from any of his 
men. Upon being informed that we were a 
committee of citizens, and that there was no 
organized force in the town, and no military 
commander at the post, he stated, in a re- 
spectful and soldier-like manner, that he 
commanded the advance of the Confederate 
troops, that he knew resistance would be 



58 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

vain, and he wished the citizens to be fully 
advised of his purpose so as to avoid need- 
less loss of life and wanton destruction of 
property. He said that he had been fired 
upon at Mercersburg and Campbellstown and 
had great difficulty in restraining his troops. 
He assured us that he would scrupulously 
protect the citizens, would allow no soldiers 
to enter public or private houses, unless un- 
der command of an officer upon legitimate 
business ; that he would take such private 
property as he needed for his government or 
troops, but that he would do so under officers 
who would allow no wanton destruction, and 
would give receipt for the same, if desired, 
so that claim might be made therefor against 
the United States Government. All property 
belonging to or used by the United States he 
stated he would use or destroy at his pleasure, 
and the wounded in hospitals would be pa- 
roled. Being a United States officer myself 
I naturally felt some anxiety to know what 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET 59 

my fate might be, if he should discover me, 
and I modestly suggested that there might 
be some United States officers in the town 
in charge of the wounded, stores, or of re- 
cruiting offices, and asked what disposition 
he would make of them. He answered that 
he would parole them, unless he should have 
special reasons for not doing so ; and he 
warned us that none such should be in- 
structed by us to leave the town. 

* * * ■» # * * 

" I resolved to stay, as I felt so bound by 
the terms of surrender, and take my chances 
of discovery and parole." 

One can hardly avoid laughing now on read- 
ing McClure's story — so quiet, agreeable, and 
gentlemanly did he find these fierce-reputed 
sabreurs, whose names then were in all men's 
mouths. While occupying the town some of 
the officers accepted his invitation to take coffee 
and smoke with him in his library, and they had 



60 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

a pleasant time together. Not only this, but 
he relates that not a private ever drew water 
from the well without first asking his permis- 
sion and afterwards "giving a profusion of 
thanks." He could not help liking them and 
admiring, too, their fine soldierly appearance ; 
but all the while there was an uneasy feeling 
lest these pet lions devour him all of a sudden, 
especially as he was at the time a United States 
officer. Like a hen with a brood of ducks he 
was in constant dread of some awkward thing 
happening. But when at length the bugle 
sounded and they took their leave, and not one 
of those Alderney calves on the model farm, of 
which he was so proud, had been disturbed ; 
nor even a single one of those fine, big trout 
in the cool spring he loved so well ; nor the 
beautiful, tempting pears, all ripe and lus- 
cious, he breathed freer, and was thankful to 
speed the parting guests, of whom, however 
agreeable, he stood in some awe. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 61 

It was upon this raid that the baby-eating 
joke was made, which went the rounds at the 
time. A trooper, grim and sunburnt in face, 
with dust-stained, weather-worn clothes and 
empty stomach, stopped at a house and asked 
for a morsel of food, for which he was ready to 
pay. The men of the family had fled, but there 
were several women at home, who peered with 
curiosity and alarm at the unwelcome visitor, 
and one of them had with her a baby. When 
asked for food they refused to give it, protesting 
they had none. 

"Well," said the half-starved cavalryman, 
affecting a fierce expression and eyeing the 
baby with an ogreish look, " I believe I am 
hungry enough to eat a nice, fat baby." 

Exit instanter the mother in horror, pressing 
the infant to her bosom, and quickly a plentiful 
meal was tendered to the child-eater to dampen 
temporarily the appetite for his normal diet. 

The Chambersburg raid was made under 



62 HAMPTOX AXD HIS CAVALRY. 

Stuart's orders, but Hampton was second in 
command, and upon him, therefore, would have, 
fallen the responsibility of bringing the cavalry 
out safely, if an unfortunate chance bullet had 
ended the chief's career. The seal of success, 
with most of us, suffices in military matters — 
the end gained justifies in this sense the 
means ; but still there were such great risks 
necessarily to be encountered upon this expe- 
dition, so much depended upon good luck as 
well as good management, and the loss of the 
cavalry by capture or destruction would have 
been a disaster so grievous, that it may, perhaps, 
be questioned whether the proportion between 
the quid and the quo was favorable ; the French- 
man might possibly have remarked about it, as 
he did of the Balaklava charge, that it was "mag- 
nificent, but not war." The fruits of success 
were not offset by any disasters, but in them- 
selves were not great. 

On October 9th this raid was begun, the 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 63 

force being one thousand eight hundred picked 
men, taken in equal numbers from the brigades 
of Hampton, Fitz Lee, and Robertson. The 
destination and purpose were kept secret from 
all, but an inspiring address was issued to the 
troops. Starting from Darksville, some fifteen 
miles north of Winchester, a northerly course 
was taken, and H edges ville reached after dark 
where the command quietly bivouacked that 
night, so as to escape observation by the Fed- 
eral signal station on the opposite side of the Po- 
tomac. From here during the night General 
Hampton personally reconnoitred the ford at 
McCoys, about five miles distant, and selected 
the place for crossing. Thirty men were de- 
tailed to rush across the river at daylight and 
demolish the picket stationed there, which they 
succeeded in doing, cutting them off from their 
reserve and thus preventing a report of the 
attack being made. M. C. Butler, who was in 
command of Hampton's advance, was on the 



64 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALMY. 

qui vive, and as soon as he heard the sounds 
indicating that the attack on the picket was be- 
ing made, galloped into the river and quickly 
possessed himself of the ford. The advance 
was immediately resumed in nearly the same 
direction as on the previous day, and the Ha- 
gerstown turnpike was crossed at right an- 
gles. Near here was a Federal signal station, 
which was captured, and news of the raid thus 
prevented from being immediately forwarded. 
A division of infantry had passed along this 
road that morning, and Butler, favored by the 
screen of foe, rode so close to their rear as to 
pick up ten prisoners who were straggling 
somewhat behind the main column. Informa- 
tion, however, of the raid was imparted to the 
Federals by country people, but the news could 
not be promptly communicated where most 
wanted, because of the remoteness of the route 
from telegraph lines and railroads. General 
McClellan was at the time suspicious of an in- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 65 

tended expedition by the cavalry, and was on 
the watch, but was looking for them in the 
wrong places. The farmers in Pennsylvania 
Were so astounded at the appearance of the 
Confederate cavalry among them that many 
mistook them for Federals, and were left 
under that impression. Chambersburg was 
reached about eight o'clock at night on October 
ioth. The next morning ordnance and other 
Government stores were destroyed and the re- 
turn march began. Unfortunately rain had set 
in, which caused anxiety lest the crossing of the 
Potomac should be obstructed by high water, 
and so it was a race which should reach the 
ford first, the cavalry or the swollen mountain 
streams. M. C. Butler, who, in the forward 
movement, had led the advance, now conducted 
the rear guard. Stuart was well aware that by 
this time the Federals in every direction were 
aroused, and that it would furnish him a diffi- 
cult task to elude the numerous bodies sent 
5 



66 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

out in pursuit of him, and to cut through their 
lines at a point enabling him to cross the river 
back to "Old Virginia." He concluded they 
would expect him to retreat by the shortest 
route westerly, and would be looking most 
actively for him there ; so he adopted the oppo- 
ite course. Taking- the road east, in the 
direction of Gettysburg, he turned off at right 
angles at Cashtown and pursued thence a 
southerly route. The cavalry crossed the Ma- 
ryland line, and when Emmitsburg was reached 
were the recipients of an enthusiastic welcome 
from the inhabitants. Meantime the Federal 
infantry as well as cavalry were scurrying about 
seeking the raiders, disproving the saying, 
"Seek, and ye shall find." At Median icstown, 
Pleasanton, with his command of Federal 
cavalry, was within four miles of Jiem, but was 
not aware of it at the time. At Emmitsburg, 
where the Confederates had arrived about 
dark, some troopers belonging to a detach- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 67 

ment of Pennsylvania cavalry were captured. 
From there the Potomac was distant forty-five 
miles southerly, and for it on a trot through 
the night rode the raiders. Dodging by turns 
and skirmishing with bodies of Federals, they 
reached the river at White's Ford about 
eight o'clock in the morning. The cross- 
ing was held by hostile infantry, but a bold 
demonstration caused them to retreat. From 
all sides, however, their foes were pouring for- 
ward to cut them off. But across the river, in 
spite of them, rode the cavalry — all but Butler 
and his rear guard, who were skirmishing to 
cover the ford. Four couriers had been sent to 
order him to come back with all possible haste ; 
the enemy were closing in with large numbers — 
his escape seemed impossible. Another mes- 
senger — an officer— was despatched to him as 
a last chance, to order him to withdraw at a 
gallop. But Butler replied that he feared he 
could not save his gun. 



6s Hampton and his cavalry. 

"Leave your gun, then, and come." 

"I don't want to lose it," answered Butler 
with his invariable sang-froid, "but we will 
see what we can do." 

And to the great surprise of all, he brought 
off his gun and every man, and as they came 
galloping round the turn of the road and into 
the ford amidst the scattering bullets of the 
enemy, the delight of the beholders broke out 
into a cheer. And thus the raid came to a tri- 
umphant end. The march from Chambersburg 
was eighty miles in length, and it was done 
in twenty-seven hours. The only losses were 
one man wounded and two captured. In Gen- 
eral McClellan's report concerning this expedi- 
tion he says that he did not think it possible 
for the raiders to re-cross the river, and be- 
lieved that the capture or destruction of the 
force was a certainty. 

On the hotly contested field of Brandy Station, 
on June 9, 1863, General Hampton's younger 




Lieutenant- Colonel Frank Hampton, slain in the battle of Brandy 
Station, younger brother of General Hampton. 

(69) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 71 

brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Frank Hampton, of 
the Second South Carolina Cavalry, was killed, 
shot through the body while fighting hand to 
hand with sabre, literally "facing fearful odds." 
He died leaving every man his friend who had 
ever known him, and without a private enemy. 
Here, too, M. C. Butler, then colonel of the 
same regiment, lost his leg. On another part 
of the field General Hampton was that day 
performing brilliant service in many a charge. 
One of these, a mounted charge against a fine 
Federal brigade, was said to have been the most 
hotly contested and magnificent horse encounter 
of the war, but Hampton's star lighted the path 
and his sabre cleft the way to victory. As the 
General dashed to the head of his command to 
lead them on this occasion, his eyes " snapping 
fire," as the men used to say, he threw off his 
overcoat to leave his sword-arm free, and flung 
it to his son Preston, acting Orderly, a mere 
boy, who was afterwards killed at Burgess' Mill 



72 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 

"Press" held the coat for a second or two, and 
then cast it on the ground, exclaiming in so- 
liloquy, "I came here to fight, not carry coats ! " 
and galloping after his father was soon by his 
side in the charge. The old soldiers who no- 
ticed the incident smiled and said, "A chip of 
the old block." But I must not be led away to 
linger among the picturesque memories of that 
attractive period, for my duty is only to recount 
the story of '64. 

In Stuart's march round Hooker's rear and 
right flank before Gettysburg, Hampton was 
present as second in command. Without enter- 
ing at all into the controversy about the effect of 
this movement on Lee's dispositions at Gettys- 
burg, it is necessary to emphasize the fact that 
Hampton had no responsibility whatever for the 
general scope of the march. He carried out 
his part of the programme in accordance 
with orders received from Stuart. What the 
orders were which the latter had received from 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBT. 73 

Lee, was entirely unknown to anyone except the 
leader of the expedition, and their exact nature 
will ever remain a secret buried with the dead. 
Major McClellan, Stuart's Adjutant-General, 
says that a long letter from Lee marked ''Con- 
fidential " was received by him during the night 
preceding the march, and that, as his General 
was asleep, he opened the letter and read its 
contents. Finding these to be important, he 
awoke Stuart and read the despatch to him, 
when the latter told him to take charge of it, 
and went to sleep. Apparently this letter must 
have been lost during the expedition, or per- 
haps purposely destroyed to avoid the risk of 
its falling into the hands of the enemy through 
some accident or capture. It seems never to 
have been seen after the night of its receipt, and 
the only clue to its contents would be the gen- 
eral recollection derived by the adjutant from a 
hasty perusal. This could establish little, as 
so much would depend upon the spirit as well 



74 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

as the exact wording of such a communica- 
tion. 

The wagon-train, the bringing of which to 
Lee's army has been charged with causing the 
chief delay in the march, was captured within 
three miles of W ashington. It is stated by one 
of his staff officers that at this time General 
Hampton advocated a dash on Washington, 
contending that great mischief could be done 
and consternation and demoralization produced 
by such an enterprise, and that, if it proved 
necessary afterwards, the cavalry could make 
their way back to Virginia by swimming the 
river at a practicable point. Of course this 
proposition was made on its merits at the time, 
without reference to Lee's orders or to the ob- 
ject of the movement then going on, all of 
which were unknown to him. 

The cavalry, as is well known, only reached 
its army in time for fighting at Gettysburg, and 
were too late to be of any service in locating 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 75 

the position of the enemy prior to the battle. 
Here General Hampton was severely wounded. 
Five out of the six chambers of his revolver 
snapped, the pistol having been exposed to 
much wet weather during the night before, and 
a Federal succeeded in getting in a sabre cut on 
the side of his head and forehead, but the one 
discharge did its work. Afterwards, seeing one 
of his men hard-pressed, Hampton dashed to 
his assistance, when the trooper escaped, but 
the Federal, a good swordsman, turned upon his 
new adversary. The blood from the wound in 
the head interfered somewhat with the General's 
vision, which enabled the Federal to cut under 
his guard, inflicting a bad wound in the head ; 
but it was the man's last stroke, for Hampton's 
sabre cleft his head down to the chin, a feat 
which novels and newspapers airily ascribe to 
their heroes, but which is rarely performed, and 
never, except by a stalwart arm and skillful 
hand. Soon after this a shrapnel struck him on 



76 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

the right thigh, and he was obliged to dismount 
and permit his wounds to be attended to. 

In reviewing Hampton's achievements in his 
military career, in spite of all the obstacles en- 
countered, it should not be forgotten that the 
fact of his not being a West Point graduate 
worked much to his disadvantage. It is beyond 
argument that the lack of this military training 
would prove an impediment at first, until prac- 
tical experience in the field, developing the 
natural bent, had supplied its place. But, be- 
sides this, it would continue long afterwards to 
stand in the way of promotion. Mr. Davis and 
nearly all the higher officers of the Confederacy 
were graduates of West Point, and had done 
much to shape and build up the institution, and 
they would unavoidably have a feeling about it 
similar to that entertained by those from univer^ 
sities and colleges concerning their almce matres. 
Their strong tendency would be, therefore, to 
have leanings against officers not educated at 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 77 

West Point, nor even at any other military 
school. The man who surmounted this very 
natural prejudice and outranked all the other 
officers in his branch of the service could have 
attained his rank only by demonstrating in the 
field his unquestionable title to such position. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE CAVALRY IN 1 864 SUBSISTENCE, ARMAMENT, 

HORSES, &C. 




OST people have some general knowl- 
edge of the events of the Virginia 
Campaign of 1864, the most splen- 



did of Lee's achievements. The Federal Army, 
countless in numbers and unsurpassed in equip- 
ment, in early May, commenced its march on 
Richmond. At the battles in the Wilderness, 
about Spotsylvania Courthouse, and in minor 
engagements, it met bloody repulse by ''the 
slender line of gray," and finally suffered deci- 
sive defeat at Cold Harbor. During this mo- 
mentous month of fighting, Grant's losses about 
equalled the entire number of troops with which 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALR Y. 79 

Lee had commenced the campaign. Their rel- 
ative forces, including reinforcements received 
by each, compared as one hundred does to forty, 
or two and a half to one. After Cold Harbor, 
Grant was compelled to abandon his original 
plan of capturing Richmond, cross to the south of 
the James river, and lay siege to Petersburg, 
strategically an outwork of Richmond. All the 
while immense Federal reinforcements were 
being received, but the Confederate ranks could 
procure few recruits. Yet, in spite of all this, 
Lee successfully held at bay his antagonist, and 
the campaign closed in December with Peters- 
burg and Richmond intact. 

It matters not what may be one's "politics," 
nor whether he is born among the snows of the 
North or under the fervid sun of the South; pluck, 
fortitude, and military prowess command admira- 
tion, apart from creed or clime. Thus it has 
come about that Lee has won a place in the 
hearts of all brave men. In America's imperial 



80 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

city overlooking the Hudson, -the monument in 
honor of Grant commemorates the glory of Lee. 

The infantry of the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia have written "with blood and iron" the 
record of their campaign of 1864 : the names of 
their battle-fields are landmarks in history. 
But little is known of the story of the cavalry. 
And yet they endured privation and death on 
the lonely picket with only the dead for com- 
pany ; they went down, rider and horse, in the 
desperate charge, the hand-to-hand encounter, 
in unnamed " skirmishes "; dismounted to fight, 
transformed into infantry, as brave and stubborn 
as ever grasped the rifle, they fell on fields, 
styled " cavalry affairs," unknown to fame. May 
a day come when justice will be done to their 
memory. The aim of the present attempt is 
only to recount some facts in the career of their 
greatest leader. 

As most of us in these days know more about 
streets than strategy, tea than tactics, it might 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 81 

be well to explain what the chief duties of the 
cavalry were, and their relation to the rest of 
the army. 

During Grant s attempt to break through or 
flank Lee's lines in the movement on Richmond, 
it was necessary for the cavalry to discover the 
points at which the enemy was seeking to con- 
centrate for attack. For this purpose they had 
to picket all approaches, and report movements, 
and frequently attack cavalry and drive them 
in to ascertain the real intentions of the enemy. 
When ascertained, they had to do their best to 
defeat them, and failing this, make delay so as 
to gain time for their own infantry to come up. 
Frequently, also, they were obliged to fight to 
mask the movements of their own army. They 
had also to cover the lines of communication by 
which supplies were obtained, and to protect 
Richmond from dashes of raiding-parties. Be- 
sides this, they were always on the alert to cap- 
ture or destroy the enemy's trains and depots ; 

6 



82 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 

to threaten and interfere with his lines of com- 
munication, and worry him in every conceivable 
manner. After Grant established the siege of 
Petersburg, it was necessary for them to sup- 
plement the infantry in the trenches protecting 
the exterior of the flanks, and in resisting at- 
tacks. They were thus not only " the eyes and 
ears of the army," but also its claws : faithful 
watch-dogs trained to bite, guarding the gate- 
ways. The campaign was successfully con- 
ducted by Lee, and very able handling of the 
cavalry was absolutely essential to make such 
a result possible. 

In estimating the merit of the work done by 
any man, it is proper to take into consideration 
the means at his disposal for doing it. We 
must bear in mind, then, not only the number of 
men under Hampton's command during the 
campaign of 1864, but also understand about 
their subsistence, equipment as to arms, supply 
of horses, and the means of feeding them. I 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 83 

say nothing about deficiency in clothing and 
shelter, because, though from this they suffered 
hardships and an increase of mortality, yet the 
fighting power of these hardy men was proba- 
bly not impaired by this cause. 

The regular rations intended for each man 
daily consisted of a half pound of bacon or salt 
pork and a pint of corn meal or flour, but fre- 
quently this was reduced by one half, and even 
the half ration would be, during a great part of 
the time, curtailed from necessity. The cav- 
alry — because of the nature of their service, 
their numerous and unexpected movements, 
and picketing — were more irregularly supplied 
than the other branches of the service. There 
could be, usually, no foraging upon the coun- 
try, for this was precluded by discipline, and, 
besides, the sections in which they operated 
were denuded of supplies. Much misappre- 
hension seems to exist about the surroundings 
of the cavalry compared to those of the in- 



84 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 

fantry. The term " dashing dragoon," applied 
to the Confederate, was a very inappropriate 
figure of speech. Any one enlisting under this 
misconception was likely to have a speedy and 
rude awakening. An instance of this kind will 
illustrate what is meant. One night the south- 
ern bank of the Chickahominy was being pick- 
eted, the enemy sociably near on the other side. 
There had been enough fighting to give every 
one a stomachful, with little else to do it. So 
thought a new recruit — tired, hungry, dirty, and 
generally miserable and disgusted. The ma- 
laria seemed visible in the misty exhalations 
rising from the swamp, and the swarms of mos- 
quitoes were certainly of thoroughbred stock, 
with whom it was impossible to arrange a modus 
vivendi. To make things more comfortable, 
two bodies — whether of friend or foe no one 
knew — had been buried close at hand in such 
shallow holes as to be partly visible. All night 
long, from time to time, two dogs, though driven 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 85 

off again and again, would come back and try 
to scratch away the earth from the corpses, 
either from affection for the dead or in order to 
devour them. At length, after a long, gloomy 
silence, the new recruit said to a comrade : 

" Did you ever read Charles O'Malley? It 
is a blanketty, blanketty blank pack of lies from 
beginning to end ! " 

It seems a strange thing, but is nevertheless 
a fact, that the soldiers who, on the whole, best 
sustained privations and hardships were not 
those whose previous habits would be expected 
to fit them for a rough mode of life. You 
would look for the dandy to be a hard fighter, 
for such he has been in all ages. But when it 
comes to living on half-rancid bacon and husky 
corn meal, one would suppose him to be at a 
disadvantage compared with a man brought up 
among very primitive domestic conditions. 
Such was not the case — the well-nurtured man 
would outrough the other. You may, some- 



86 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

times, have observed the same principle illus- 
trated by your travelling companions, and that 
those who grumble most about "bed and 
board " are the ones who have lived most slen- 
derly at home. Shortly after the war the buyer 
of goods for a country store in a remote sec- 
tion of the South happened to be at dinner in 
a good hotel in New York. After scanning for 
a long time in bewilderment the bill of fare 
with all its French names for familiar dishes, he 
at last said to the waiter : 
" Gim'me bacon." 

But, then, he was a connoisseur of bacon. 
The same fellow, when at breakfast, had ven- 
tured upon a codfish ball. After the first 
mouthful was taken it was returned to his 
plate with more haste than elegance, and, turn- 
ing to his companion, he remarked : 

" By jimminy ! Bill, there's somethin' dead 
in that tart ! " 

Beyond the rations above mentioned, there 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 87 

was not any other food regularly issued until 
the early autumn, when Hampton had made his 
celebrated capture of Federal beeves. After 
that time beef instead of pork was given out 
occasionally. Now and then in the late au- 
tumn, but not at any earlier period of the cam- 
paign, a very little sugar and coffee would be 
dispensed, but so rarely and in such small 
quantities as to be practically valueless for 
maintaining health. There were never rations 
of wine, whiskey, or any alcoholic stimulant, 
and there was no possibility of procuring any- 
thing of the kind from outside sources, even if 
there had been the money for buying, so the 
men were " teetotalers " from necessity. At 
rare intervals a little tobacco in the form of 
" plugs" was issued, and smoking tobacco 
could generally be bought comparatively 
cheap. To make purchases, however, it is 
necessary to have money, and this must come 
from "home," for pay-days were like angels' 



88 HAMPTON AND BIS CA VALB Y. 

visits, and the currency, even when received, 
was so depreciated as to have a very limited 
purchasing power. It will readily be seen 
what a great disadvantage the Army of North- 
ern Virginia labored under, fighting on such 
slender subsistence, compared to the amply fed 
and well cared for Army of the Potomac. It is 
a grave question how far this condition of 
affairs was unavoidable and how far it was due 
to lack of good management in the Depart- 
ments at Richmond, and to want of zeal in the 
Quartermasters and Commissaries, and their 
underlings at depots and with wagon-trains. 
If the army could have been properly supplied 
merely with sound bacon and corn meal or 
flour, these rations would have been sufficient 
to maintain its physical strength and efficiency 
and to have prevented much mortality from 
wounds and sickness, which proved fatal be- 
cause of the depleted condition of the poor 
fellows. Certain it is that the bravest, most 




(39). 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 91 

energetic, and ambitious men were to be found 
at the front, where were danger, glory, and 
promotion, and also the self-respecting satisfac- 
tion earned by well-performed duty, whereas 
" bomb-proofs " were greatly in demand by 
persons, as a rule, of an inferior grade, content 
to be non-combatants. This may and probably 
does account in a measure for less able conduct 
of the Quartermaster Department and the con- 
sequent privations of the troops. After the 
continuous fighting of a month from the Wil- 
derness to Cold Harbor, it was desired by Lee 
to have the rations of the men, temporarily at 
least, increased somewhat, and coffee or some 
other stimulant issued, to bring up the physical 
condition, but the Department stated it was 
impossible to do this. 

In armament the cavalry were sorely over- 
matched by their opponents. Lee's Infantry 
were armed with muzzle-loaders, but then the 
Federal Infantry used similar weapons, and 



92 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

therefore they were on the same footing in this 
respect. Hampton's Cavalry generally pos- 
sessed only muzzle-loaders. The regiments 
from the Carolinas and Georgia had no breech- 
loaders at all. It is true some of the Virginia 
regiments were provided with Sharp's breech- 
loading carbines (single-shooters), but there 
were comparatively few. On this point Gen- 
eral Rosser writes: " Our cavalry had no breech- 
loading arms, except those captured, and with 
these the ' Laurel Brigade ' was pretty well 
supplied. Nearly all my men were armed with 
captured arms, and supplied with captured sad- 
dles, bridles, and halters." But General Ros- 
ser' s Brigade had been detached for service in 
the Valley, and had therefore enjoyed excep- 
tional opportunities for thus equipping itself, as 
the Federal armies there had been throughout 
the war in a measure an adjunct to the Con- 
federate Ordnance Department. The repeating 
carbines captured could not be utilized during 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 93 

the campaign of 1864 for lack of ammunition, 
because the Confederate work-shops were un- 
able, at that time, to manufacture the metallic 
cartridges. They learned to do this late in the 
autumn, and could have furnished them for the 
next campaign. And by that time, too, they 
would have been able to supply breech-loaders 
of their own manufacture ; some were already 
made and in the arsenal in Columbia, S. C, 
when the city was burned by Sherman, where 
were also produced the heavy, long, straight, 
double-edged swords, very serviceable and 
crusader-like, with cross-hilt. The Sharp's car- 
bines captured were at best only single-shooters, 
and besides the cartridges were of paper and 
easily injured by wear in the boxes and by 
weather. In August, 1864, an order was 
issued taking away from the men any captured 
magazine rifles in their possession, because the 
impossibility of procuring fresh supplies of car- 
tridges would make them useless at critical 



94 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 

moments. Hampton's Cavalry, therefore, as a 
rule, had only muzzle-loaders. These were 
mostly Enfield rifles, but many of them less 
serviceable weapons, and not a few mere ar- 
tillery carbines, little better than cross-bows. 
Grant's Cavalry, on the other hand, were pro- 
vided with breech-loading carbines, and largely 
with magazine rifles, chiefly Spencer's. The 
muzzle-loader is a thing of the past, and there- 
fore hardly known to this generation, except by 
name, being almost as unfamiliar as the Queen 
Anne flint-lock musket. It is therefore difficult 
to appreciate the terrible disadvantages the 
Confederate Cavalry labored under in this mat- 
ter. To load the Enfield was slow work at 
best, the difficulty greatly increasing as it be- 
came foul from repeated discharges. It could 
hot well be loaded by a man lying down on the 
ground behind cover, thus necessitating greater 
exposure of the person in fighting. The car- 
tridges, being of paper, were liable to injury by 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 95 

dampness and rain, and the rifles often would 
miss fire and cause much delay and trouble. 
The breech-loading carbines and magazine 
rifles were free from all these drawbacks, be- 
sides possessing rapid-firing power, and troops 
armed with them ought to have been equal to at 
least double their number carrying only muzzle- 
loaders. In respect to revolvers, Hampton's 
men were also sadly deficient, a considerable 
percentage being without them, whilst their 
enemy was amply provided. But not only were 
the rifles inferior in quality, but they were also 
insufficient in number to equip all the men. It 
appears from the " Armament Report of the 
Cavalry Corps, December 15, 1864," that the 
number of men in the command was then 5,552, 
of whom 1,100 were unarmed, and 925 did not 
have long-range guns, and a large proportion 
were without revolvers. This report was of 
course intended to apply only to the Govern- 
ment property issued to the men, and not to 



96 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

personal weapons, which, being private property, 
would not be returned in the schedule. The 
deplorable deficiency in arms was not caused 
by any fault of the Ordnance Department of 
the Confederate Government, which, on the 
contrary, was ably managed, and did good 
work in proportion to its available resources. 
The stringent blockade, hampering imports, and 
the paucity of work-shops and mechanics, and 
financial straits, were responsible for this. Gen- 
eral Hampton was unceasingly endeavoring to 
minimize the difficulty by urgent correspondence 
with the Department, by captures, and by 
efforts to import arms. The powder, at least, 
was always good, which was largely due to the 
skill and energy of Colonel Raines, detailed to 
superintend the Powder Works of Augusta, 
Ga. When he died recently it was a request 
in his will that his body should be wrapped in a 
Confederate flag, which he had provided for the 
purpose, and buried on the site of his old works. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 97 

But the horse supply was the weakest point 
of all in the organization of the cavalry. When 
a man enlisted he brought with him his own 
mount. If the horse was killed in action, he 
would be entitled by law to compensation, but 
this was nominal, not real, for, if he ever re- 
ceived the money at all, it would be at a fixed 
valuation for the horse in depreciated currency 
equivalent to only a small fraction of the actual 
value of the animal. If the horse was lost or 
disabled by wear and tear or disease, he re- 
ceived no compensation at all. In any case, if 
dismounted, he must provide himself with 
another horse, or be transferred into some 
other branch of the service. Good men were 
often lost to the cavalry by being unable to 
buy a fresh mount. Where the trooper could 
manage to afford to purchase another animal, 
it was necessary to give him a furlough to go 
home for this purpose, obtain his mount, and 
bring him back to the command. And so the 



98 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR T. 

disablement of a horse meant either the elimi- 
nation of a man from the force altogether, or at 
least his absence on furlough for a long time, 
and this would, of course, most frequently 
occur when the work was hardest and men 
most needed. This feature was the fatal defect 
of the system, and it may well be wondered 
how, in these circumstances, the cavalry was 
kept in existence at all. The entire system, 
however, is not to be condemned because of 
this vital fault, for it possesses many merits, 
and it may be necessary to utilize it again on 
a large scale in some future wars, but it is 
essential that the supply of fresh horses should 
be provided for when those originally furnished 
by the troopers are worn out. In raising cav- 
alry in this way many important advantages are 
gained. Better men and better horses are ob- 
tained on the average. The recruits will be 
largely composed of substantial countrymen 
who can ride and shoot and understand the 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 99 

care of horses, with a fair sprinkling of young 
fellows from towns who are fond of horses and 
are quick to acquire the discipline of a soldier. 
Though, according to law, captured horses be- 
came the property of the Government and not 
of the men in the command taking them, yet, 
after a time, unwritten law largely overrode this 
red tape, and captured mounts would be re- 
tained by the captors in lieu of their own dead 
or unserviceable animals. General Thomas L. 
Rosser says in this connection : 

" I often went into battle or on a raid with 
one-third at least of my men dismounted, and 
generally succeeded in mounting them from 
captures." 

The daily forage ordered to be issued for the 
horses, when practicable, was ten pounds, equal 
to about five and three-fourth quarts of corn 
(maize) and ten pounds of long forage for each 
animal ; but this quantity was, in point of fact, 
never given out, because it could not be pro- 



100 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

cured. Often only five pounds of corn per 
horse and no long forage would be issued, 
and not infrequently only two and one-half 
pounds. Sometimes there would be no corn at 
all, and merely scant rations of hay, or even 
straw. Not infrequently the only subsistence 
would be unthreshed wheat. The privations 
were most severe during the active period of 
the campaign, but even when that was ended 
the lack of forage was keenly felt. A more 
distressing sight than to witness the daily dete- 
rioration of the horses under this treatment can 
hardly be imagined. The deprivation of grain is 
very bad for them, but the absence of long forage 
is worse ; the animal's digestion becoming so 
completely upset by this that even with a suffi- 
ciency of corn he would not derive the normal 
benefit from it. The unsatisfied craving for 
long forage produces a morbid appetite, and 
the horse will then greedily seize and swallow 
almost anything to distend the stomach. Where 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 101 

a camp had been located for a few days one 
would notice the trees to which the horses had 
been fastened stripped of bark from the ground 
to as high up as the animals could reach, and 
where the place was occupied for a week or 
two many of the smaller trees would be eaten 
entirely away. Empty bags, scraps of paper, 
and similar things would often be voraciously de- 
voured. Unfortunately the supply of long forage 
was much less in proportion than that of corn. 
Even in summer there were very few opportu- 
nities for grazing, and in the autumn and winter 
none. All this was lamentable in a humane 
point of view and extremely painful to those 
fond of their horses, but it was also an im- 
mense injury to the efficiency of the cavalry. 
General Hampton fully appreciated the vast 
importance of bettering the food supply for the 
horses, and his efforts in this direction were 
most energetic and untiring, and every possible 
expedient which his wide and life-long experi- 



102 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

ence of the subject could suggest was put in 
practice. No doubt the department of the Con- 
federate Government charged with attending 
to this subject had, at that time, very great diffi- 
culties to grapple with. 

Another drawback to the efficiency of the 
cavalry was the difficulty of obtaining horse- 
shoes, and an unshod horse meant, for the time 
being, the loss in action of one sabre and one rifle. 

Of course the disparity of relative numbers 
was, of all, the most serious disadvantage to 
the Confederates. It has been, throughout this 
narrative, the conscientious intention to report 
correctly the military results attained and the 
actual numbers engaged and losses sustained. 
For this purpose the "Records of Union and 
Confederate Armies," published by the War 
Department from original or authenticated 
documents, are invaluable, but they are not in- 
fallible. Official reports are frequently more or 
less colored by the interest or prejudices of the 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 103 

officer making them. As to numbers, losses, 
prisoners, and recruits there is room in these 
" Records" for serious mistakes without any 
intention of deception, and the documents them- 
selves sometimes contain internal evidence of 
this. In keeping accounts involving returns of 
vast numbers daily changing, it would be too 
much to expect uniform accuracy, but, besides 
accidental inaccuracies, documents at headquar- 
ters and in the wagons were occasionally lost 
or captured. This occurred most frequently 
from May to September, 1864, often with the 
infantry, but still more commonly with the cav- 
alry, because of the more active nature and 
varied vicissitudes of that service. Where pa- 
pers containing the data of corps, divisions, 
brigades, or parts of them are thus lost, accu- 
racy cannot be expected from returns made up 
afterwards in the absence of such data. It 
would be like the effort of a banker to establish 
the previous debits and credits of his accounts 



104 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

with his customers after he had lost all of his 
books in a fire. Moreover the cavalry on both 
sides, for days together, had more pressing busi- 
ness to attend to than bookkeeping, which would 
be relegated to more convenient occasions. As 
instances of the loss of or inability to obtain 
data, the following may be cited. General 
Meade endorses on the report of the Army of 
the Potomac of June 30, 1864 : 

"The last trimonthly report previously ren- 
dered was for April 30th. In consequence of 
the movements of the troops between the dates 
mentioned and the absence of all facilities for 
the preparation of the stated trimonthly re- 
ports, it was found altogether impracticable to 
render such reports when due." 

On the returns of the Army of the Potomac 
for July 31, 1864, there is an endorsement stat- 
ing that the records of the First and Third Di- 
visions of Cavalry had been 'Tost or cap- 
tured," and therefore could not be given. 




(105) 



CHAPTER III. 



POSITION OF THE ARMIES BEFORE THE OPENING 
OF THE CAMPAIGN OF 1 864 SURPRISE OF KIL— 

Patrick's force — dahlgren raid. 

AJOR-GENERAL J. E. B. STUART, 
commanding the cavalry of the Army 
of Northern Virginia, was mortally 
wounded on May n, 1864, and, by his death 
on the following day, Hampton became rank- 
ing Major-General of the command. This 
narrative, strictly speaking, should commence 
at that date, but a clearer understanding of the 
situation will be arrived at by a brief reference 
to some occurrences which preceded May nth. 

During the winter of 1863—64 General 
Hampton, with headquarters at Milford, had 
two brigades of his division — Butler's and Gor- 

(107) 




108 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALRT. 

den's — stationed near Fredericksburg, about 
sixty miles north of Richmond, picketing the 
Rapidan and Rappahannock rivers, on the 
right of the army. The other brigade of the 
division — Rosser's — had been ordered to the 
Shenandoah Valley in December. The two 
brigades mentioned numbered together seven 
hundred and nineteen, "present for duty and 
with serviceable horses," by the field return for 
February 28th. The infantry occupied, for about 
twenty miles, the southern bank of the Rap- 
idan, extending on the left to near Orange 
Courthouse, and Meade's army was some ten 
miles to the north of their centre. 

On February 29th occured what may be con- 
sidered the first movement in the cavalry cam- 
paign of 1864. On that morning General 
Hampton received information from a scout 
that the Federal infantry were supposed to be 
moving, and that Kilpatrick was in motion with 
his cavalry division. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 109 

This information was correct as to Kilpatrick, 
but the infantry movements as well as the cav- 
alry demonstration around the left flank were 
merely feints, intended to distract attention 
from the real object in view. Kilpatrick had 
received orders to march with a force of four 
thousand men, and with about this number and 
six pieces of horse artillery he started on his 
expedition on Sunday evening, February 28th. 
The purpose was to dash round the right flank 
of Lee's army and capture Richmond, which had 
only a feeble garrison, consisting largely of home 
guards. His force was composed of men selected 
from all of the three divisions of the corps. 
Pleasanton, then commanding the Federal cav- 
alry, speaks of them as " picked men," and says 
that, for this reason, their absence seriously 
impaired the efficiency of all his three divisions. 
Probably there were also some of the " house- 
hold troops," as General Meade used to style 
men detailed to serve around army headquar- 



110 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

ters. Colonel Dahlgren led the advance with 
four hundred and sixty men. The plan was for 
him to press forward, unencumbered with wag- 
ons, cross the James river, seize the bridge and be 
ready to attack Richmond from the south side in 
co-operation with Kilpatrick, who counted upon 
reaching the northern side by Tuesday morn- 
ing. The expedition accordingly quietly crossed 
the Rapidan at Ely's ford during Sunday night, 
having captured or killed the whole picket from 
Butler's brigade — fourteen men and an officer — 
and set out on their race for Richmond, some 
fifty miles in a straight line to the southward. 
Kilpatrick duly reached the neighborhood of 
Richmond on Tuesday about midday, but Dahl- 
gren had not been able to keep his appoint- 
ment. Kilpatrick made a feeble attack upon 
the outworks of Richmond, but drew off early 
in the evening and went into camp near Atlee's 
station, intending to renew his attempt upon 
the city in the morning, by which time he hoped 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALE Y. 1 11 

Dahlgren would be in position, or would have 
joined him. 

Meantime, as soon as he had ascertained the 
direction taken by the raiders, Hampton started 
energetically in pursuit. His force consisted of 
three hundred and six troopers from the First 
and Second North Carolina regiments, of Gor- 
den's brigade, .and Hart's battery of horse 
artillery — these being all the men that could 
be spared without denuding the picket posts. 
Sunday night had been a beautiful, bright, 
moonlight evening, mild and spring-like, so 
much so that a signal-corps officer, with an 
unpronounceable Sclavonic name, attached to 
Dahlgren' s band, in his official report moralizes 
most edifyingly upon the calm of nature being 
in striking contrast with the angry passions of 
man, and a little latter on becomes eloquent 
over the beauty of a bonfire made by buildings 
burned. But the weather suddenly changed 
completely, and on Tuesday there was a severe 



112 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBT. 

storm, accompanied by snow and sleet, and the 
night closed in black as ink, cold and wet. To- 
wards ten o'clock Hampton made out the camp- 
fires of the enemy — one portion near Atlee's 
station, about ten miles north of Richmond, 
and the others just back of it. He decided at 
once to attack the brigade nearest the station, 
and set his men in motion in that direction, 
with orders when the enemy's pickets were 
met not to return their fire. When this oc- 
curred he dismounted one hundred of his men, 
supporting them with the remainder mounted, 
and advanced steadily upon Kilpatrick's camp, 
whilst two pieces of artillery were opened upon 
it at short range. At first a stout resistance 
was encountered from the brigade attacked, 
but Hampton dashed in and carried the camp 
at a rush. About one hundred prisoners were 
captured, the rest making off in the darkness, 
leaving many horses. Arms, rations, and cloth- 
ing were found scattered about. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 113 

Until they struck the camp itself the advance 
of Hampton's men had been made in as noiseless 
a manner as practicable, so as to effect a sur- 
prise, but when the charge took place the men 
tried to create all the noise possible, because this 
would produce the impression of greater num- 
bers. The "rebel yell," derived from the in- 
spiring view-halloo of the hunting field, could 
express, on fitting occasions, an intensity of 
fierceness quite upsetting to the nerves. 

Meantime General Kilpatrick, with the bri- 
gades camped in the rear, " in guarded tent," 
like the Turk of old, was snugly snoozing in 
warm blankets regardless of the pitiless storm 
without, and "was dreaming of the hour" when 
he would sack Richmond and become the next 
President. He " woke," not " to die 'mid flame 
and smoke," nor " death-shots falling thick and 
fast," but to leap upon his horse in hot haste 
and gallop away into the darkness, followed by 
his intact brigades, forgetting to take with him 

8 



114 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 

a loaded wagon, with horses hitched, and a cais- 
son of ammunition, and having experienced a 
very " unpleasant quarter of an hour." 

In consequence of the extreme darkness 
Hampton could not take up the pursuit until 
daylight. In the interim the victors made bold to 
use the fires, provisions, coffee, and other "home 
comforts" left behind by their departed hosts. 

Kilpatrick says in his official report, that 
after his involuntary night march he reached 
Old Church, where he rested until one o'clock 
P. M. the next day, but hearing that Hampton 
was " after him," as he expresses it, and that 
it was he, with " a large force of mounted in- 
fantry and cavalry and four pieces of artillery" 
who had attacked him the night before, he 
" decided to move by the nearest route to Gen- 
eral Butler's lines at New Kent Courthouse." 
It should be remembered that " the large force " 
numbered, after deducting necessary details for 
scouts and pickets, less than three hundred men, 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALE 7 115 

After resting and receiving reinforcements at 
Yorktown, Kilpatrick essayed to force his way 
back to his own army, but Hampton barred the 
way, having somewhat increased his force by 
that time. And so it turned out that Kilpatrick 
was cut off from Meade's army, to which he 
belonged, and, compelled to seek refuge in 
General Butler's bosom, became "bottled up," 
thus setting an example soon followed by But- 
ler. His losses, according to Federal returns, 
were only 340. His friends were obliged to 
send steamers to Yorktown to bring him back 
to his army, where, as Pleasanton states, the 
absence of his "picked men" and the "house- 
hold troops " was severely felt. This seems 
rather a droll ending for the affair. Old Ben 
Butler, too, had shortly before this got up an 
expedition with similar purpose against Rich- 
mond, which, like all his sensational attempts 
at war, had come to speedy grief. 

Dahlgren had endeavored to carry out his 



1 1 6 HAMPTON AND Elb CA VALR Y. 

part of the programme. After burning some 
mills, barns, and other private property, encoun- 
tering no organized resistance, he had tried to 
cross the James river, about twenty miles 
above Richmond, but had not succeeded in 
effecting this. Suspecting that a negro boy, 
whom he had employed as guide, was deceiv- 
ing him about the ford, he hanged* the poor 
creature. A party of five or six of his scouts 
rode up to a country house near by. On the 
piazza were two young men, soldiers on fur- 
lough, and the ladies of the family. The young 
people were not aware of raiders being in 
the neighborhood, and were so busy chatting 
together they did not perceive the intruders 
uniil they were almost among them. Then, 
quick as thought, the two men ran through the 
hall, escaped by the back door, rushed to the 
stable, mounted, and galloped away into the 
fields in the rear. Meantime the raiders de- 
manded that the ladies should tell them where 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 117 

the men were, whom they had seen leaving, 
and also required to be informed of the road to 
the nearest river-ford. This being refused, 
they threatened their lives, and levelled cocked 
pistols at their heads, but did not succeed in 
extorting any information from these brave Vir- 
ginia girls. Soon the two young men, discover- 
ing that the Federals numbered only five or six, 
came dashing round the corner of the house, 
yelling as if leading a charge, and chased them 
away with their pistols. One, the most insolent 
of the gang, endeavored to escape by making 
a short cut across the lawn to the gate on the 
main road. On his way was a deep excavation, 
which had once been an ice-house, but which 
had gone to ruin, and was then concealed by 
debris and grass. Into this the rider and horse, 
at full speed, fell. Both were found there quite 
dead, their necks broken, and there they lie 
buried now. It is not surprising that these 
girls should always have believed the arm of 



1 1 8 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALE Y. 

the Great Avenger had been present with them. 
Despairing of crossing the river, Dahlgren made 
a fruitless ride to the outskirts of Richmond, 
but drew off without accomplishing anything 
Hearing that Hampton had driven off Kil- 
patrick, and was interposed between him and 
his friends, he seemed to lose his head, and 
blindly endeavored to escape. His command 
became divided in the darkness, and he with a 
part of it was encountered by an irregular 
band made up of citizens and a few soldiers on 
furlough, and thus met his death, and those 
accompanying him shared his fate or became 
prisoners. On his body was found a note-book 
and papers containing memoranda, and his in- 
tended programme after capturing Richmond, 
which included the burning of the city and the 
assassination of the Confederate President, 
proceedings which would have been in viola- 
tion of the laws of civilized warfare. It is 
probable that from this attempt was suggested 




(119) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR Y. 12 L 

the idea of the equally abhorrent crime of which 
Lincoln was the victim. The one atrocity 
begot the other. Naturally enough friends of 
Dahlgren tried to discredit the evidence against 
him, but unfortunately the facts speak for them- 
selves. 

As to the documentary evidence against 
Dahlgren, General Hampton says : 

"As the authenticity of these papers has 
been denied, it may not be out of place for 
me to state here what I know regarding 
them. As already said, I followed Kil- 
patrick, when he retreated, and I halted on 
the night of the 2d of March near the house 
ot Dr. Braxton, and not far from that of Mr. 
Lewis Washington. I remained during the 
night at the house of the former, and moving 
off at a very early hour the next morning 
I met Mr. Washington, who asked me if I 
had seen a courier who was in search of 
me. Replying to him in the negative, he 



122 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

informed me that this courier had stayed at 
his house the night previous, and had ex- 
hibited to him the note-book of Dahlgren, 
in which he read the diabolical plan, which 
was subsequently made public. The details 
of this plan, as stated to me by Mr. Wash- 
ington, were precisely similar to those pub- 
lished ; so, unless the parties who killed 
Dahlgren, or the courier who bore the 
despatches on to Richmond on not finding 
me, wrote the orders and memoranda in the 
captured note -book, a supposition entirely 
incredible, there can be no shadow of a 
doubt that Dahlgren was the originator 
of a plot to burn and sack Richmond, and 
to assassinate the President of the Southern 
Confederacy." 

For his services in driving away Kilpatrick, 
Hampton received the thanks of Major-Gen- 
eral Elzey, as the following extract from Gen- 
eral Orders will show. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 123 

" G. O. No. 10, Headq'rs Department 
of Richmond, March 8, 1864. 

" The Major-General commanding begs 
leave to tender to Major-General Hampton 
and his command his sincere thanks for their 
co-operation in following up the enemy, and 
their gallant assault upon his camp at Atlee's 
station on Tuesday night, in which the 
enemy's entire force was stampeded and 
completely routed, leaving in the hands of 
Gen. Hampton many prisoners and horses." 

This attack on Kilpatrick, considering the 
odds, was certainly one of the boldest ever 
made, but it was not done in a spirit of wild 
adventure or dare-devil recklessness, but, on 
the contrary, was sagaciously planned and 
coolly executed, as the best available means 
for driving off the raid from Richmond. 



CHAPTER IV. 



reorganization of hampton's division com- 
mencement of the campaign wilderness 

sheridan's Richmond r a i d — death of 

stuart hampton in command composition 

and numbers of the corps sheridan's 

corps, and number of men hawes' shop 

matadequin creek ashland cold harbor. 

FTER the events just related, it was 
expected there would be compara- 
tive quiet until the opening of the 
spring campaign by the infantry. General 
Hampton, therefore, availed himself of this 
opportunity to accept, for a short time, the leave 
of absence which had been tendered him some 
time previously. His chief object in this was 
to return to South Carolina to superintend the 

(121) 




HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 125 

transfer to Virginia of the Fourth, Fifth, and 
Sixth regiments of South Carolina cavalry, 
who would relieve the First and Second South 
Carolina cavalry then in Virginia, and thus 
permit the latter to return home to recruit. 
This, it was hoped, would bring nearly 2,400 
fresh men and horses to Hampton's division in 
place of the depleted regiments mentioned. 
It had been decided to do this after his re- 
peated and urgent requests to the War Depart- 
ment, and at the recommendation of General 
Lee. It had also been arranged to recruit, as 
far as practicable, with men and horses the 
other regiments of his division, but, in regard 
to these, changes were made which will be ex- 
plained later on. It was absolutely necessary 
to increase the numerical strength of his com- 
mand, if it was to be of any material service in 
the coming campaign. 

On May 2d General Hampton returned to 
his headquarters at Milford, and reported to 



126 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

General Stuart, commanding the corps. He 
officially stated his effective force then to be 
only 673 men. On May 5th his division was 
reorganized, Gorden's brigade being trans- 
ferred from it. After that it consisted of Ros- 
ser's, Young's, and Butler's brigades, the latter 
to be made up of the three South Carolina 
regiments just referred to, which were coming 
from home. 

On May 4th the Army of the Potomac com- 
menced to move, and thus was begun the cam- 
paign of 1864. A splendid army it was. All 
that money could effect in creating and perfect- 
ing an armed force, with the resources of the 
whole world at hand to draw from, had been 
accomplished. The winter had been spent in the 
camps north of the Rapidan industriously pre- 
paring, organizing, drilling — and this was the re- 
sult. The soldiers, recruited from every race the 
sun shines upon, were better cared for, clothed, 
and fed than most of them had been when at 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 127 

home, and, in numbers and equipment, far sur- 
passed any army that had ever been mustered 
on American soil. By count there were about 
one hundred and fifty thousand of all arms, in- 
cluding those detailed to the Quartermaster 
Department, and nearly fifty thousand of rein- 
forcements were destined to join them during 
the next four weeks. These are " official" 
figures, but how many more may have been 
really there within that horrible month no one 
can know, for, in the continuous smash of bat- 
tle and resulting disorganization, accounts for 
receipts and consumption of " food for gun- 
powder" could not be accurately kept, and 
records must be often made up by " forced bal- 
ances." 

General Meade had struck his gorgeous 
headquarters tent at Culpeper and unfurled 
his beautiful silken flag, embroidered in silver 
and gold, at much cost of "greenbacks," sug- 
gesting, as General Grant sarcastically re- 



128 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBT. 

marked in his downright way, the magnificence 
of the conquerors of imperial Rome. An array 
of horsemen, some sixteen thousand strong, 
clattered in the advance, brilliant in all the 
bravery of handsome uniforms and glitter- 
ing steel ; much larger in numbers and better 
mounted and accoutered than any cavalry the 
army had ever before possessed. Then marched 
the infantry, the sunlight flashing from their 
rifle-barrels, in high heart and splendid phy- 
sique, with hundreds of brilliant standards wav- 
ing, the air filled with the strains of martial 
music and the tramp of armed men. The rum- 
ble of the wheels of the artillery swelled into a 
volume of sound resembling distant thunder, 
as well it might, for never before since man 
gave proof of his kinship to Cain by making 
gunpowder had so many guns of such calibre 
been attached to any army. Wagon-trains — 
consisting of thousands, which, in a single line, 
would have stretched over sixty miles in length, 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 129 

conveying ample and luxurious rations and pro- 
vision for sick and wounded, and swarms of 
camp followers of both sexes — like flies follow- 
ing a carcass — brought up the rear. 

Thus they crossed the Rapidan to the south- 
ward, filling all the roads with dense masses of 
moving blue like swollen tributaries to some 
great river, and overflowing into the open 
spaces and fields as spring streams will inun- 
date the meadows. It is not to be wondered 
at that some who watched the spectacle from 
an overlooking height could almost fancy they 
were witnessing one of those vast migrations of 
nations which, it is believed, occurred in pre- 
historic times, when — set in motion by stress of 
changed climate and impoverished soil, or over- 
crowding of the maternal hive — they wandered 
off by thousands and thousands in search of abid- 
ing places in more favored climes. And this 
migration, too, was from the North, hardly as 

yet released from the ice-grip, into the genial 
9 



130 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

Southern lands — to Virginia, smiling- in the 
spring sunshine, wreathed with verdure and 
flowers, well styled the " Virgin Queen." 

In this manner — in all the "pomp and cir- 
cumstance of war " — the Army of the Potomac 
proceeded on its way into the Wilderness, there 
to encounter disaster and defeat, and narrowly 
to escape entire destruction ; to lose within 
thirty days considerably more than sixty 
thousand of its best and bravest. 

And what barrier existed against this mighty 
tidal wave of conquest? Merely "a slender 
line of gray" — unpaid, ill-fed, ragged men. 
True; but that "line," however "slender," 
though in numbers hardly equal to two-fifths of 
its enemy, was composed of the veterans of the 
Army of Northern Virginia — Americans tried 
and true, mostly descendants of the British race, 
whose ancestors had thrown off only the Eng- 
lish Crown and titles, but retained all else — the 
dearly-loved traditions, laws, and liberty ; and 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 131 

these had, mingled in their veins, the blood of 
fiery Cavalier and fighting Roundhead, deriving 
from each strain its best qualities. And there 
were not wanting the offspring of that people 
true to their faith, who followed the white plume 
of Navarre at Ivry. To all such men comes 
from their birth facility of military organization 
and skill with weapons, and to their hearts the 
word "liberty" always sounds like a bugle-blast. 
As for the cavalry they were chiefly country-bred, 
hardy in habits, horsemen from the cradle, and 
much leavened with the love of field-sports ; 
from the stirring cries of the hunting-field and 
the mad gallop after the hounds it was an easy 
transition to the Confederate battle-yell and the 
dashing, fierce, furious charge. Above all this, 
that " slender line " was imbubed with almost 
superhuman strength by the genius and moral 
power of Lee. 

The writer will venture to make a short di- 
gression here to relate an incident occurring 



132 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

during the autumn of 1863, which will far bet- 
ter illustrate than any words of his can do, the 
nature of the leader and of the army confront- 
ing Grant in 1864. The exact date, the names 
of persons, and the locality are omitted for ob- 
vious reasons. It is to be feared that the inter- 
pretation of this anecdote will not be clear to 
many a worthy well-to-do citizen, whose com- 
bative experiences have been confined to the 
battles between "bulls" and "■ bears," whose 
greatest personal peril has been incurred in 
dodging bicycles and trolley-cars, whose priva- 
tions have consisted of dinners not quite comme 
il fatct, and whose patriotism is a love for " the 
old flag and an appropriation." But the 
women will comprehend it, however white their 
hands or delicate their nurture. 

A commander of a considerable force of 
Confederate infantry had, by an error of judg- 
ment but with the best intentions, made a 
movement which placed his troops at a great 



HAMPTON AND HIS GA VA LB T. 133 

disadvantage and cost fruitlessly much pre- 
cious blood. As they would have said in those 
days, he "butted his head against a stone 
wall." General Lee came upon the scene just 
then — calm, dignified, and grand ; the personi- 
fication of mind versus matter. The lines were 
restored and affairs set right. The infantry 
officer whose blunder had wrought all this 
mischief was a gallant and devoted soldier, 
and his heart was wrung with grief as he 
looked upon the stiff and stark and the poor 
fellows writhing with their wounds. He rode 
up and was about to make some explanation 
of the mistake, but Lee interrupted him very 
gently, saying : 

" Well, well, General ! bury your poor dead ! " 

Only those few simple words, but they ex- 
pressed a pathos that is indescribable. Many 
dead lay there, and far too many wounded. 
These latter saw their loved General's look, 
and some heard his words, and these tried to 



134 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

cheer from their dying throats, and the cry was 
taken up by others more distant, until at length 
the very sky shook with the swelling battle-yell 
of the army. It was magnificent, because it signi- 
fied the supreme height to which human hearts 
can reach in love, loyalty, and absolute trust ; 
and surely never since darkness brooded over 
the face of the waters did a more acceptable 
anthem ascend to the throne of the Most High. 

The Army of the Potomac during its career 
had served under many different leaders. 
Meade was now nominally at its head on this 
momentous 4th of May, but Grant, in fact, ex- 
ercised personal control and direction. In the 
cavalry also an important change had occurred 
since the close of the last campaign. General 
Pleasanton, during the previous year, had com- 
manded and had much increased the efficiency 
of this branch of the service. He had consoli- 
dated into a corps of three divisions a force 
which before that had been composed of dis- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 135 

connected regiments and brigades. But his 
relations with Meade became strained and he 
felt compelled to resign. Then Grant and 
Hallet consulted together and selected Sheri- 
dan, who was brought from the. West to lead 
the cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, and 
took command on April 5th. He it was who 
was destined to be pitted against Hampton in 
the coming campaign. Some distinction had 
been gained by him in the West, but chiefly 
at the head of an infantry division. He hap- 
pened to have been born in New York, but 
both his parents, less than a year previous to his 
birth, had emigrated from Ireland, and he was, 
therefore, as much an Irishman in racial char- 
acteristics as if a native of Cork. From this 
race has come, during modern times, much raw 
material for soldiers of fortune, and most of 
them have shown good fighting qualities. 
Sheridan was no exception to this rule. Of 
humble parentage, his early education had been 



136 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

meagre, but he entered West Point fr#m Ohio 
and graduated in 1853, thirty-fifth in a class of 
fifty-two members. From this time to his death 
he lived in the army. When assigned to the 
command of the cavalry corps of the Army of 
the Potomac he was thirty-three years of age, 
and in personal appearance very far from im- 
posing. 

On May 7th, in pursuance of orders, Gen- 
eral Hampton reached Shady Grove, and, un- 
der Stuart, took part in the fighting with the 
Federal cavalry on that flank. On May 8th 
Grant, having suffered bloody repulse in the 
Wilderness fights of the three preceding days, 
commenced to make a rush to his left to turn 
Lee's right flank. Time was of vital import- 
ance, for Lee must arrive first at the point of 
attack, and thus be able to confront his antago- 
nist. So the Federal cavalry tried their utmost 
to clear the roads for their infantry, and the 
watch-dogs of Lee assailed them for delay, and 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 137 

thus Hampton was again engaged. On May 
9th and 10th he was encountering the enemy's 
infantry, and in the heavy fighting of the 12th 
his artillery did good service. On every day, 
from the commencement of the campaign to 
the battle of Cold Harbor, the cavalry were 
engaged, always striving their utmost to delay 
the forward march of the Federal columns, and 
always forced to fall back gradually before their 
larger numbers. This is a sort of service 
which is the hardest that can be put upon 
troops, for they know full well each morning 
that the struggle is, for them, a hopeless one, 
and yet that they must encounter it day after 
day, forced back always, but disputing every 
inch. Troops that can endure this, undemoral- 
ized, are veterans tried and true, and such can- 
not be bought for bounties. 

On May 9th Sheridan made a detour round 
Lee's right flank and marched in the direction 
of Richmond. He had detached a portion of 



138 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

his command to remain with the infantry, but 
had with him the remainder of his three divisions, 
numbering over nine thousand men, and seven 
batteries of horse artillery accompanied them. 
Stuart started in pursuit, his force being about 
one-third the strength of that of Sheridan, and 
by hard riding he interposed himself between 
the raiders and Richmond, having detached 
General Gorden, with his very small brigade, 
formerly of Hampton's division, to attack their 
rear. On May iith a severe fight ensued at 
Yellow Tavern, nine miles from Richmond, 
durinof which, after many hours, Stuart's line 
was broken through by force of numbers. He 
himself was mortally wounded and died the 
following day. Thus fell a gallant, devoted 
soldier and a lovable man. His personal dash 
was splendid and his handling of mounted cav- 
alry spirited. The daring raids and adventur- 
ous expeditions conducted by him are capti- 
vating to the imagination and surround his 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 139 

memory with romantic associations. Brigadier- 
General Gorden, too, an excellent officer, lost 
his life in this unequal contest, fighting- stoutly 
in the front, as was his wont. 

Sheridan, having succeeded in passing 
through Stuart's line, proceeded to the fortifi- 
cations of Richmond, where he made an attack 
and was repulsed. The garrison consisted, to 
a great extent, of citizen soldiers, supplemented 
by some troops which General Bragg, com- 
manding the defences, brought up from below 
Richmond, and was, therefore, not a very for- 
midable body, either in numbers or quality. 
However, Sheridan gave up the attempt to 
capture the city and returned to his infantry, 
arriving there on May 25th. His losses in this 
expedition, according to Federal returns, were 
six hundred and twenty-five. 

The results accomplished by this raid 
amounted to very little of military value. The 
appearance of Federal cavalry behind the lines 



140 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

caused the withdrawal from Lee of no infantry, 
and of only about one-third of the number of 
troopers comprised in Sheridan's force ; in 
other words, it required three of his men to 
neutralize one of the cavalry of the Army of 
Northern Virginia. The public stores burnt, 
and the railroads only slightly and temporarily 
interfered with, did not at all diminish the effi- 
ciency of the troops then operating against 
Grant. Nether did the destruction of private 
property damage anyone but the individual suf- 
ferers, and, indeed, it was of benefit rather 
than injury to the Confederate cause, on ac- 
count of the exasperation of feeling thus en- 
gendered. The attack on Richmond proved a 
failure, and caused no diversion in any other 
direction. It is true Stuart was killed, but that 
can hardly be called a " result," for we do not 
wage war, like Indians, for human scalps, but 
only to obtain military ends. 

What, then, was the purpose of this expedi- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 141 

tion ? It has been said that one object was to 
draw off cavalry from Lee, and thus render 
more easy Grant's flanking movements, but, as 
remarked above, this was a three-for-one ''ex- 
change." The attack on Richmond was so 
feeble that it could hardly have been the ob- 
jective point. One writer has said the chief 
purpose of the march was to recruit the horses, 
but a hard raid in a country swept of supplies 
would certainly be a strange method, and 
surely no commander would, at a critical junct- 
ure, separate his cavalry from his infantry for 
such an inadequate reason. The true explana- 
tion of the proceeding probably is, that Grant 
overconfidently expected to hammer to pieces 
Lee's columns at Spotsylvania, and placed 
Sheridan in the rear to pulverize the fragments. 
Thus to denude the army of cavalry would 
seem to have been a frightful risk, and might 
well have ended the war in exactly an opposite 
manner to that intended. 



142 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

By the death of Major-General J. E. B. 
Stuart on May 12th, Hampton, as senior 
Major-General, became commander of the cav- 
alry of the Army of Northern Virginia. He 
was then forty-six years of age. Of impressive 
personal appearance — full-bearded, tall, erect, 
and massive ; a horseman from life-long habit 
and natural aptitude — he looked a grand mili- 
tary chieftain. The cavalry of that army con- 
stituted a corps. There were at that time 
three divisions — the First consisting of M. C. 
Butler's brigade, the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth 
South Carolina, Young's brigade, Cobb's Le- 
gion, Phillips' Legion, Jeff. Davis Legion, 
Seventh Georgia regiment, Millens' battalion, 
and Lewis' battalion, Thomas L. Rosser's bri- 
gade, Seventh, Eleventh, and Twelfth Virginia, 
and White's battalion. This division was com- 
manded by Major-General Hampton. The 
Second division was made up of Wickham's 
brigade, First, Second, Third, and Fourth Vir- 



(H3) 



HAMPTON AND EI8 CA VALRT. 145 

ginia and Lomax's brigade, Fifth, Sixth, and 
Fifteenth Virginia. Major-General Fitzhugh 
Lee commanded this division. The Third divi 
sion was composed of Gorden's brigade, First, 
Second, Third, and Fifth North Carolina and 
Chambliss' brigade, Ninth, Tenth, and Thir- 
teenth Virginia. This division was under 
Major-General W. H. F. Lee. 

General Fitzhugh Lee was a nephew and 
General W. H. F. Lee, a son of Robert E. Lee, 
and both were graduates of West Point. 

When General Hampton took command 
after May 12, 1864, the three divisions were 
composed as above stated, but all the regi- 
ments were not present. The three regiments 
of Butler's brigade had not yet reached Vir- 
ginia, nor the larger part of Young's brigade, 
nor two regiments of Gorden's brigade. The 
regiments not present on May 12th reported 
at different dates during the rest of the month. 

The number of effective men present for duty 
10 



146 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALMY. 

with serviceable horses never exceeded, at any 
time during the campaign, seven thousand as a 
maximum. This statement is confirmed by 
General Hampton. The force was undergoing 
constant reduction by dismounts, caused by 
broken-down horses as well as by casualties, 
whilst new recruits were necessarily few, and, 
therefore, this maximum existed for only a mo- 
ment, so to speak. Gary's brigade — consisting 
of the Hampton Legion (ten companies), 
Seventh South Carolina Cavalry and Twenty- 
sixth Virginia cavalry — was not attached to the 
corps, but belonged to the Richmond-defence 
force, and operated only north of the James 
river. 

The cavalry of Sheridan consisted also of 
three divisions, styled First, Second, and Third, 
commanded by Generals Torbert, Gregg, and 
Wilson — ranking in the order named. The 
number of brigades comprised in the corps 
was seven and the number of regiments 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 147 

thirty. By the " abstract of the tri-monthly 
return of the Army of the Potomac for April 
30, 1864," the number of officers and men then 
"present for duty" in the cavalry corps was 
fifteen thousand eight hundred and twenty-five, 
and "serviceable horses" fifteen thousand and 
thirty-six. Their numerical strength was, there- 
fore, at that time considerably more than dou- 
ble the maximum of Hampton's force, and very 
far more than double its average. Sheridan's 
troops were admirably clothed, equipped, 
armed, and fed, and were kept mounted by 
fresh supplies of horses, and the ranks con- 
stantly replenished with new recruits. Their 
arms consisted of breech-loaders (chiefly Spen- 
cer and Hall magazine rifles of the best kind, 
using metallic cartridges), revolvers, and sabres. 
The sad contrast to this presented by Hamp- 
ton's command in food, armament, horses, and 
forage has been pointed out, and the paucity 
of recruits to be obtained by him needs no fur- 



148 HAMPTON AND EI8 CA VALB 7. 

ther comment. Notwithstanding this great 
disparity in men and material, it can be shown 
that, within the four months during which Sheri- 
dan commanded the cavalry of the Army of 
the Potomac, Hampton was never routed in 
a single engagement, and generally achieved 
substantial successes. The same assertion 
is equally true of that period of the campaign 
of 1864 subsequent to August 2d, at which 
date Sheridan was transferred to command in 
the Shenandoah Valley. With the advent of 
Hampton to the control of the cavalry of the 
Army of Northern Virginia came a great 
change in tactics. Before this time the prac- 
tice had been to operate cavalry mounted, the 
dismounted men, or sharp-shooters, being gener- 
ally merely auxiliary to the mounted men, cov- 
ering their flanks when needed. Much bril- 
liant manouvering had been done, many enter- 
prising raids executed, and some very good 
service performed in confusing the enemy and 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBT. 149 

obtaining an insight into his plans. But the 
time had arrived when a change in system 
was necessary. The Federal cavalry, thanks 
to Pleasanton, were better organized and equip- 
ped and stronger in numbers than ever before. 
A new man was now at their head, who was 
bent upon obtaining promotion. Sheridan's ex- 
periences in the West had been almost entirely 
as an infantry officer, and he was disposed to 
fight his cavalry harder than his predecessor had 
done. This of itself would have brought about 
a change. The nature of most of the country 
campaigned in made mounted charges by the 
Confederates on a large scale against reliable 
troops armed with magazine rifles usually im- 
possible or suicidal. But, besides this, there 
were other reasons for the change. Hampton 
was born a soldier. He grasped the situation 
confronting him. The only way in which his men, 
relatively few in numbers and badly equipped, 
could be made to check Sheridan was by abler 



150 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

handling and harder fighting as well as finer 
strategy. In dismounted righting, performed 
skirmish-style in cover, where practicable, in a 
thin line to be strengthened, when advisable, the 
muzzle-loaders and smaller numbers were not 
at such a great disadvantage, for man to man 
his troopers were very much better shots than 
their adversaries. He could dash his force, 
mounted, to favorable points with great celerity, 
dismount and rush them in, and, if advis- 
able, draw them out as quickly and hurl them 
fiercely on some other and weaker position. 
Thus he virtually multiplied his men, and the 
enemy would form an exaggerated impression 
of his numbers, and frequently mistook his cav- 
alry for their bete noir — reinforcements of in- 
fantry. And all this did not militate in the 
least against the efficiency of his command as 
a mounted force to be thus used, and brilliantly 
used, too, when occasion offered. We main- 
tain that Hampton succeeded in making- his 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 151 

men good, hard-fighting infantry on occasion, 
capable of practically doubling or quadrupling 
their strength by celerity of movement, and 
at the same time preserved intact all their 
good qualities as cavalry ; and we contend that 
no man ever before had done this on the same 
scale so thoroughly. In saying this, there is no 
intention of belittling the military genius of 
Forrest, which is undeniable. Only two cavalry 
officers in the Confederate army attained the 
commission of Lieutenant-Generals. These 
were Hampton and Forrest — ranking in the 
order named. Wheeler is frequently referred 
to in newspapers as a Lieutenant-General, and 
Appleton's Cyclopaedia of American Biogra- 
phy states that he was so, but this is a mistake : 
he was a Major-General. 

The battles of Spotsylvania had now been 
fought and won by Lee. Grant was compelled, 
therefore, to make fresh endeavors elsewhere 
to. turn the Confederate flank. The cavalry 



152 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

were thus kept busy, the Federals in trying to 
mask the movements of their infantry, Hamp- 
ton in tearing away the mask and in concealing 
the dispositions taking place in his own army. 

Cavalry fighting went on daily: it is only 
some of the affairs which we notice here. On 
May 15th Rosser had made a daring and suc- 
cessful reconnoissance in the direction of Frede- 
ricksburg, driving in all the cavalry he met and 
developing the position of Grant's right flank. 
On May 19th Hampton was again engaged, 
co-operating in a movement made by General 
Ewell, and did effective service. Also on May 
2 1 st, there was fighting in connection with 
Grant's movement on Hanover Junction, and 
this continued in a desultory way until he 
moved off. Hampton then marched to Atlee's 
station, where he received orders from Lee to 
ascertain if the Federal infantry had crossed to 
the south of the Pamunkey river. 

Sheridan, after his Richmond raid, had rested 



HAMPTON AND MIS CAVALRY. 171 

mand of his own brigade, the Fourth, Fifth, and 
Sixth South Carolina, which was then ordered 
to Meadow bridge for the purpose of being 
organized. This object, however, was not at- 
tained. There was so much smell of saltpetre 
in the air in those days that a fight always 
came about easily. On May 30th Butler with 
his brigade and a part of Gary's attacked, at 
Matadequin creek, a force which proved to 
be the extreme left of the Federal army. The 
Federals were posted behind a farm-house and 
some out-buildings, a rail fence extending on 
each side. The attack was made across an 
open wheat field, and then from cover of a 
thrown-down fence on a road on the farther 
side of the field. The enemy made a stout 
resistance, but were driven from their position. 
But there was an unpleasant sequel. Rein- 
forcements came to them. To the left of the 
Confederates, down the road they were holding, 
marched in close order, covering it from side 



172 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 

to side, a dense mass of blue. The long- 
range Enfields fired at will into that mass could 
not fail to do their work, but the satisfaction of 
practicing at a large target is marred when the 
component atoms are shooting back, espe- 
cially as the slender cover of fence-rails, seem- 
ing preternaturally thin, was enfiladed as soon 
as this mass of blue deployed. So Butler's 
force was compelled to leave, nor stand upon 
the order of their going, as the field behind was 
entirely open and the bullets were industriously 
mowing down the wheat. It was a plucky 
fight, but to have been successful it would have 
been necessary to beat the left wing of Grant's 
army, a feat which would have eclipsed David's 
exploit against Goliath. This engagement is 
sometimes designated as Cold Harbor, but is 
more properly called Matadequin Creek. 

After the Hawes' Shop engagement the Con- 
federate cavalry continued to confront the 
enemy, Fitz. Lee's division being stationed on 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 173 

the right, W. H. F. Lee's division on the left, 
and Hampton with Rosser's and Young's bri- 
gades near Atlee's station. On May 31st W. 
H. F. Lee had a sharp skirmish at Hanover 
Courthouse, and the next morning was attacked 
by Wilson's division and fell back in the 
direction of Ashland. Hampton moved to his 
assistance with three regiments of Rosser's 
brigade, and struck Wison's column, throwing 
it into great confusion. Rosser followed up 
the advantage by a series of brilliant mounted 
charges, some of them over dismounted men, 
and drove Wilson into Ashland with the sabre, 
capturing prisoners from eight different regi- 
ments, about two hundred horses, and many 
arms. Wilson made a stand in Ashland, post- 
ing his artillery in the village, and his men be- 
hind the houses and the railway embankment. 
The North Carolina brigade of W. H. F. Lee's 
division was then dismounted and charged the 
enemy, but did not at first succeed in dislodg- 



174 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 

ing him, Brigadier-General Young, tempora- 
rily in command of the brigade, being wounded. 
At this juncture Hampton, taking with him a 
regiment and two squadrons, gallantly dashed in 
on Wilson's right flank and gave him the coup de 
grace. After that, it was simply a pursuit until 
night compelled the victors to halt. Many 
prisoners were captured, and Wilson sent in a 
flag of truce for his wounded. 

General Hampton received the congratula- 
tions of Lee for his success : Lee also expressed 
his " gratification at the handsome conduct of 
Rosser's command and his thanks for their 
having so gallantly defeated the enemy." 

On June 3d Hampton made a reconnois- 
sance with W. H. F. Lee's division towards 
Hawes' Shop, the scene of the engagement of 
May 28th, and found the Federals posted in 
earth-works near the shop. The North Caro- 
lina brigade, Colonel Baker commanding, was 
then dismounted, and, after a sharp affair, car- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR Y. 175 
ried the works in handsome style, driving the 
enemy to an interior line. 

On June 3d also occurred a much more 
memorable event, the battle of Cold Harbor. 
On that morning, Grant's army there present, 
nearly 113,000 troops, gallantly flung them- 
selves upon Lee's columns and were repulsed 
with the slaughter of 1 3,000 men in an incredibly 
short space of time s about one hour. The suc- 
cessive advances and recoils could be numbered 
by a listener at a distance from the awful roar 
of musketry and artillery, and then the com- 
parative cessation for short intervals. At 
length the Federal soldiers sullenly refused to 
obey orders to advance again to meet in their 
ranks the fruitless butchery of twenty to every 
one Confederate disabled. And thus was ended 
Grant's " Overland Campaign." Another move 
to the left, endeavoring to turn Lee's flank, 
would put him further from, not nearer to the 
objective, Richmond. So he began to fortify 



176 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 



his position confronting Lee, but soon aban- 
doned the idea of a siege and commenced on 
June 1 2th to move his army to the south of the 
James river, there to sit down for ten weary 
months before Petersburg. Thus he had 
changed his mind, and would not "fight it out 
on that line, if it took all summer," Lee's logic 
having proved convincing. 

The following quotations are from "The Army 
of the Potomac," by the Federal historian Swin- 
ton, who is writing about an army for which he 
had the greatest admiration and love : 

" It took hardly more than ten minutes of 
the figment men call time to decide the bat- 
tle. There was along the whole line a rush, 
the spectacle of impregnable works, a bloody 
loss, then a sullen falling back and the action 
was decided. 

* * * * * * 

" The action was decided, as I have said, 
in an incredibly brief time in the morning's 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 177 

assault. But rapidly as the result was 
reached it was decisive, for the conscious- 
ness of every man pronounced further as- 
sault hopeless. The troops went forward 
as far as the example of their officers could 
carry them, nor was it possible to urge them 
beyond, for there they knew lay only death, 
without even the chance of victory. 
****** 

" Grant's loss in the series of actions from 
the Wilderness to the Chickahominy reached 
the enormous aggregate of sixty thousand 
men put hors de combat, a number greater 
than the entire strength of Lee's army at the 
opening of the campaign. He had inflicted 
on Lee a loss of twenty thousand, the ratio 
being one to three. The Confederates, elated 
at the skillful manner in which they had con- 
stantly been thrust between Richmond and 
the Union army, and conscious of the ter- 
rible price in blood they had exacted from 

the latter, were in high spirit, and the morale 
12 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

of Lee's army was never better than after the 

battle of Cold Harbor. i 

* * * * * * 

" The result of such assaults as that of 
Spotsylvania Courthouse and at Cold Har- 
bor, in the latter of which the Army of the 
Potomac lost at least twenty men to Lee's 
one, presents the .reductio ad absurdum of 
the theory of hammering. 

" Now, so gloomy was the military outlook 
after the action on the Chickahominy, and 
to such a degree, by consequence, had the 
moral spring of the public mind become re- 
laxed, that there was at this time great dan- 
ger of a collapse of the war. The history 
of this conflict truthfully written will show 
this. Had not success elsewhere come to 
brighten the horizon, it would have been dif- 
ficult to raise new forces to recruit the Army 
of the Potomac, which, shaken in its struct- 
ure, its valor quenched in blood, and thou- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR T. 181 

sands of its ablest officers killed and wounded, 
was the Army of the Potomac no more." 



Probably no impartial critic will now deny 
that the Army of the Potomac did good fight- 
ing from the Wilderness to Cold Harbor, where 
was met absolute defeat, rendering necessary 
the abandonment of the campaign on the north 
side of the James river against Richmond. It 
is likely, too, that few well-informed men doubt 
that at this period the question of making peace 
or continuing the war was trembling in the 
balance. But this is not all. Since Swinton, a 
careful student of the events of the war, wrote 
in 1866, there are sources of information open 
to all which were not accessible to him at that 
time, and which throw a flood of light upon 
much hitherto dark and unexplorable ground. 
We can now clearly perceive that not only were 
Swinton' s views, which I have quoted, correct, 
but that, more than this, the Army of the Poto- 



182 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

hiac, like a man only partially recovered from 
well-nigh mortal illness with a broken constitu- 
tion, never again exhibited the admirable vigor 
exerted before Cold Harbor, and notwith- 
standing all the fresh blood infused into it 
through new recruits during the remainder of 
the year, was, to use a familiar expression, 
* ' under hack" to the end. But, besides this, 
not only was the question of war or peace in 
doubt during the early summer of 1864, but it 
was thus, too, during the entire campaign. If 
Lee was fighting for his life at Petersburg, so 
was Grant, and in a much broader sense, and 
well he knew it. Above him was the sword 
suspended by the thread which " attrition" at 
any moment might cut. Although the with- 
drawal of Lee from Richmond to better posi- 
tions further inland, thus shortening and simpli- 
fying the Confederate lines of communication, 
and lengthening and complicating those of their 
enemy, and depriving the latter of his advan- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 183 

tages by water, would have been not without 
political difficulties, yet it was nevertheless per- 
fectly practicable, and we now know that this 
course was approved of by Lee, though not by 
Davis. But with Grant it was very different. 
His side, in the listless silence of discourage- 
ment, witnessed the abandonment of the attack 
on Richmond from the north side of the James, 
but their despair would have demanded hearing 
in loud and imperative voice if the siege of 
Petersburg had been raised. If anyone will 
carefully read the u Records of the Union and 
Confederate Armies," published under the au- 
spices of the War Department, I think he will 
come to the above conclusion. Those " Rec- 
ords " constitute in some respects the most 
wonderful history ever compiled. The official 
reports often merely convey the impressions 
about events intended to be given for reasons 
of their own by the writers, and official tables 
of numbers and losses are very fallible. But 



184 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 

this is not true of all telegrams hastily penned 
in the flush of excitement, amidst the sound of 
the tramp of marching columns, or of despatches 
or letters hurried off by couriers galloping 
through the smoke of battle, or communications 
written under stress and pressure, not expected 
to be published. These will usually contain the 
real thoughts and feelings, hopes and fears of 
the writers. There is then no time for prepara- 
tion intended to deceive, and generally no desire 
to mislead, but an inclination to state the truth, 
the unvarnished truth. Such correspondence 
is not dramatic, it is human ; not realistic, real. 
You seem to be hearing, not reading the words, 
to see the expression of the faces, to watch the 
anxious working of the mouth, the glance of the 
eyes, the twitch of the hands betraying over- 
strained tension of the nerves of the strong 
man. As you look one face flushes, another 
pales with suppressed excitement (and the latter 
is generally the better man). These living "Rec- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 185 

ords" are to the mind what the Roentgen-rays 
are in physics. You see through and through 
your man — the working of the brain, the pulsa- 
tion of the heart, stand revealed in light. Some- 
times through many despatches he may escape 
you, may succeed in keeping on his mask ; but 
watch him closely and patiently, and at length 
he will give himself away, divulge his secret. 
It may be by only a phrase, a chance expression, 
or even by a single word, but it will be enough 
to speak volumes of authentic history to light 
up some places hitherto veiled from you. Gen- 
eral Meade's interior, and that of many others, 
is often plain to view under this mental Roent- 
gen-ray, but even Grant, habitually cool and 
silent, is sometimes lighted up by a vivid if rare 
flash. 

The cavalry engagements preceding Cold 
Harbor were not isolated fights, but the smaller 
links in the chain of scientific manoeuvres lead- 
ing up gradually to this crowning event. They 



186 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

were minor parts of a grand and symmetrical 
whole. To understand them thoroughly in this 
sense, it is necessary also to comprehend the 
entire defensive strategy used by Lee to defeat 
his antagonist. An explanation on such ex- 
tended lines would far exceed the limits of this 
sketch and probably also the patience of the 
reader, but without it the military ability of 
Hampton cannot be fully appreciated. 



CHAPTER V. 



THE TREVILIAN CAMPAIGN. 




N June 8th, General Hampton, with 
his division, was at Atlee's station, 
Fitz. Lee's division being at Cold 
Harbor. Early that morning his scouts re- 
ported to Hampton that a large force of cavalry 
and artillery had crossed the Pamunkey river, 
and was moving north. This information he 
at once transmitted by signal to General Lee, 
and by letter also, suggesting in the latter that 
Sheridan's object was to strike at Gordonsville 
and Charlottesville, to destroy the railroads, 
and then to unite with Hunter, who was moving 
on Lvnchbur^. Supposing this to be Sheridan's 

(187) 



188 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

object, he urged that he be allowed to pursue 
him, and, after a full consultation, General Lee 
directed him to carry out this plan. 

Preparations were made accordingly, three 
days' rations cooked by the men, and with 
horse-corn fastened to their saddles, the First 
division marched by daylight on June 9th. The 
Second division, Fitz. Lee's, was ordered to fol- 
low. The Third divison, W. H. F. Lee's, re- 
mained with the army. 

The Trevilian campaign is of special interest, 
because it concerned exclusively the cavalry, 
no infantry participating or being in possible 
supporting distance, either in a physical or a 
strategical sense. It was, pure and simple, a 
cavalry duel, which put to the test the relative 
military ability and fighting power of the an- 
tagonists. It thus possesses a picturesque, ro- 
mantic charm derived from the isolation of the 
combatants as they wrestled for mastery, far 
separated from their armies, as if they had 



HAMPTON AND EI8 CAVALRY. 189 

sought out this solitude to settle, uninterrupted, 
their quarrel by wager of battle. 

The force under Hampton did not exceed 
4,700 men in all in the two divisions. These 
figures are taken from memoranda of General 
Hampton, based on papers in his possession 
preserved from the war, and correspond with 
data obtained from other sources. There were 
three batteries of horse artillery of four guns 
each. 

Sheridan had his First and Second divisions, 
commanded by Torbert and Gregg, numbering 
about 9,000 men, with twenty-four pieces of 
artillery, being six batteries of four guns each. 
The information about his numbers is obtained 
from the official returns for June 1st, as well as 
from captured field returns of some of his 
brigades. The returns of his cavalry seem not 
to have been regularly made during the active 
part of the campaign, when fighting was going 
on nearly every day. 



190 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 

The twenty-four regiments composing Sheri- 
dan's two divisions selected for this expedition 
consisted of the picked troops of his corps, such 
as the First, Second, and Fifth United States 
(regulars), Custer's brigade, and First New 
Jersey. 

The Federal troops, therefore, outnumbered 
Hampton's in the proportion of more than two 
to one, with artillery in the same ratio. But 
this was not all. Their armament and equip- 
ment, their breech-loaders and magazine rifles, 
gave them an advantage over muzzle-loaders, 
which ought to have been the equivalent of a 
hundred per cent, but estimating it at only fifty 
per cent., their force would have practically out- 
numbered Hampton's as three is to one. 

On the morning of June 8th Sheridan slipped 
quietly out of the back door of his army, 
crossed the Pamunkey river at Newcastle, took 
a northerly course for about ten miles, and 
then turning a little to the north of west, pro- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 191 

ceeded nearly parallel with the north bank of the 
North Anna river, a branch of the Pamunkey. 

Hampton had read his purpose aright. Sheri- 
dan had received orders to march upon Char- 
lottesville and Gordonsville, destroying every- 
thing there of value to the army, and he was to 
tear up and so effectually ruin the Virginia 
Central railroad (now the Chesapeake and 
Ohio) as to cut off supplies from the Shenan- 
doah Valley, which were essential to the sub- 
sistence of Lee's army. After that he was to 
form a junction with General Hunter, who had 
been operating in the Valley, and in connection 
with him, capture Lynchburg, burn the stores 
there, and then return with him to the Army of 
the Potomac, destroying en route the James River 
canal, with discretion to work any other mischief 
he could do. How entirely he failed to accom- 
plish these purposes, or any one of them, or 
anything else of value to Grant, the facts will 
show. 



192 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

Sheridan's march for the first three days was 
only a hot, dusty summer ride, for passing out 
through the rear of his army he traversed a 
region where only women and children or 
weakly non-combative men were to be found. 
On the evening of the third day he crossed 
the North Anna river at Carpenter's ford, 
about sixty-five miles from his starting point, 
camping near there on the road leading to Tre 
vilian station, a few miles distant. Torbert's 
division was in advance, and when it was going 
into camp ten or twelve men dashed at the 
head of the column, fired their pistols and gal- 
loped off. These were, in fact, Hampton's 
scouts, but Torbert supposed them to be merely 
some countrymen, home-guards ; and this was 
the only intimation detected by him of an 
enemy being at hand, as he himself says, and 
the evidence of others corroborates this. So 
Sheridan and his nine thousand followers peace- 
fully bivouacked under the summer stars, sup 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 193 

posing the Confederate cavalry to be many 
miles away. 

But Hampton had been up and doing. 
Starting on the morning of June 9th, one day 
behind Sheridan, he took a shorter route and 
made all speed to place his command between 
his antagonist and the latter' s objective point. 
The weather was hot, and an unusually severe 
drought was prevailing. The dust raised by 
the marching columns was stifling, and the only 
water obtainable for man or beast was from 
small streams crossed, and this, churned up by 
thousands of hoofs, was almost undrinkable. 
By the night of June 10th Hampton's division 
reached Green Spring Valley, three miles from 
Trevilian station, on the (then styled) Virginia 
Central railroad, and there went into camp. 
At nearly the same time Fitzhugh Lee's divi- 
sion reached Louisa Courthouse, about five 
miles from Trevilian, also on the railroad, 
near which they halted for the night. By this 



194 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

time it was pretty well known among the men 
that Hampton was seeking Sheridan, and that 
a fight was on for the morning. During the 
first day of the march not only the troopers, but 
even the brigade commanders were ignorant of 
the object of the expedition and where they 
were going, and many believed a dash on 
Washington was intended. It was somewhat 
a disappointment to give up that prospect, 
but soon the weary riders and horses were 
stretched on the ground asleep, both equally 
careless of what the morrow would bring forth. 

By daylight the next morning, quietly, with- 
out blast of bugle or other needless sound, all 
the command was in ranks in readiness to ad- 
vance to the attack. The air was crisp and 
bracing and sweet with the smell of clover, and 
the foot-hills of the Blue Ridge looked cool and 
refreshing after all the dust and heat of the 
previous day. From the Federal camps floated 
the strains of the bugle sounding reveille. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 195 

Hampton's plan of battle was as follows : 
From Trevilian's station, near which his divi- 
sion then was, a road ran in a northerly 
direction to Carpenter's ford, on the North 
Anna river, and on this road was Sheridan. 
Another road led from Louisa Courthouse, 
where Fitz. Lee's division had camped, towards 
Carpenter's ford, joining the Trevilian road at 
Clayton's store. Fitz. Lee was ordered to move, 
down this road towards Clayton's store and em 
gage the enemy when met, and Hampton's 
division proceeded to the attack down the Trer 
vilian road towards Clayton's store, except Ros-. 
ser's brigade, which took position covering a 
road to the left, leading to Gordonsville. By 
this programme, if properly carried out, Hamp- 
ton's division's right flank would cover Fitz. 
Lee's left, drawing the enemy back towards 
Clayton's store, where the two divisions would 
form a junction, and thus strike Sheridan on 
flank as well as front. Hemmed in and crowded 



196 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

together, with a river in the rear, he could 
then be destroyed. This was no visionary 
scheme, nor wild, foolhardy attempt to accom- 
plish what was impracticable, or involved too 
great risk, but was a deliberately and wisely- 
laid plan for virtually annihilating the cavalry 
of the Army of the Potomac. The ground 
was well chosen for the purpose, and the nat- 
ure of the country along the Trevilian road 
lent itself admirably to the design. It was 
thickly wooded, and would thus conceal num- 
bers and disposition, and afford the men the 
advantage of their superior skill as shots, and 
in this way neutralize to a certain extent the 
greater effectiveness of the enemy's magazine 
rifles. It is a little amusing that Federal 
officers on this and on other occasions com- 
plained of Hampton as a "woods fighter," as 
if such tactics were hardly fair play. That they 
did so, however, is, in fact, a compliment, and 
gives evidence of the gift he possessed of de- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 197 

tecting at a glance advantages of ground and 
utilizing favorable positions. So was La Roche 
Jacquelin a "woods fighter" when the forests 
of La Vendee rang with musketry and proved 
grave-yards for the armies of "liberie, egalite, 
fraternite." 

According to the plan Hampton's division 
marched forward to the attack, and Fitz. Lee 
reported his force moving out in obedience to 
orders. A squadron of the Fourth South 
Carolina went in advance, and had not pro- 
ceeded far down the road before they were 
yelling and charging and driving in the enemy's 
picket or advance guard. Then Butler's and 
Young's brigades, of Hampton's division, were 
dismounted, and advancing through the woods 
on each side of the road soon struck the enemy 
and pressed him back, according to the plan. 
It seems from the reports of the Federal gen- 
erals that they were still in the dark as to the 
nature of the force opposing them, and from 



198 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

the character of the ground could form no esti- 
mate of the numbers. Custer was, conse- 
quently, ordered to take his brigade to Tre- 
vilian station and there form a junction with 
the rest of Torbert's division — the General be- 
ing under the impression that he was encoun- 
tering only some raw country militia which he 
could drive before him. In trying to execute 
this movement Custer met the left of Fitz. 
Lee's division, and there was some little skir- 
mishing, but it was so feebly conducted by the 
Confederate brigade engaged that Custer drew 
off down a by-road, which he had discovered, 
leading to Trevilian station, and thus passed 
between the two divisions, placing himself in 
the rear of Hampton's. This could not have 
happened if Fitz. Lee's division had advanced 
in the manner ordered. This it is necessary to 
comprehend clearly, for the failure to succeed 
in the plan of battle originally conceived was 
due only to this. The plan of battle was thus 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 199 

frustrated. Word was brought to Hampton 
that the enemy was in his rear, and he galloped 
to the spot to find it too true. In this emergency 
orders were sent to Rosser to attack Custer, 
and promptly a clatter of hoofs and cloud of 
dust announced him coming at the head of 
the " Laurel brigade," and soon the crack of 
pistols and the swish of sabres made sad 
work in Custer's ranks. The led horses of 
Butler's brigade, three caissons, and wagons, 
which Custer had captured, were all retaken 
and retained ; nearly an entire regiment was 
made prisoners, and four caissons and the head- 
quarter wagon of Custer, with brigade reports 
and private correspondence, were run into Fitz. 
Lee, who picked them up and kept them. Un- 
fortunately the gallant Rosser was wounded in 
the charge. Meantime the tide had turned 
against Butler's and Young's brigades, for the 
enemy had availed himself of the opportunity 
afforded by the separation of their flank from 



200 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

Fitz. Lee's division, to come through the gap 
round the right flank of Hampton's division, 
thus compelling it to fall back. The situation 
was very grave ; indeed, in view of the original 
disparity of numbers and the present position 
of his command, it might well have been that 
Hampton should have utterly despaired of suc- 
cess, and only hoped at best to save a part of 
his troops by a hasty retreat. But nothing was 
farther from his mind than such thoughts. He 
dashed about, personally giving orders and des- 
patching staff-officers and couriers, steadying 
and encouraging every one by his own splendid 
gallantry. His purpose to beat Sheridan re- 
mained unalterably fixed, and he inspired confi- 
dence that he would do it. At this critical, 
well-nigh desperate juncture, as it appeared to 
most present, he displayed the highest qualities » 
of a commander, and literally plucked victory 
out of the jaws of defeat. 

This was the situation. Hampton's division 



HAMPTON AND HIS GA VALET. 201 

was flanked, nearly surrounded and compelled 
to fall back. Fitz. Lee's division was pushed 
to the east towards Louisa Courthouse and 
isolated, becoming thus of no use until the 
afternoon of the following day. The whole of 
Sheridan's force was consequently available to 
crush the life out of Hampton's division and 
could then have dealt at leisure with Fitz. Lee's ; 
only superior generalship foiled this. 

Hampton kept up the fighting, but gradually 
withdrew his men to the west, a short distance 
from Trevilian station, until he reached a natu- 
rally strong position, and there established a 
new line along the railroad embankment and 
road leading to Gordonsville, thus covering 
that place and Charlottesville. Here he was 
assailed by Sheridan, but without success, and 
night closed in and morning came with the 
positions unchanged. At about midday Fitz. 
Lee reported, having succeeded by a detour 
round the enemy in reaching the rest of the 



202 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBT. 

command. It was after three o'clock when at 
length Sheridan again attacked. He had no 
alternative but this or retreat and failure, for 
Hampton covered Gordonsville and Charlottes- 
ville and the Virginia Central railroad, the ob- 
jective points of his expedition. Fitz. Lee was 
ordered to strengthen the left of Butler's 
brigade with one of his brigades, and with the 
other to make a circuit to the left and strike the 
enemy on his right flank. 

Hampton's line was protected in part by the 
railroad embankment, but stretched along the 
intersecting wagon-road leading to Gordons- 
ville, which gave it somewhat the shape of a 
flattened V. On this part of the line there 
were no rifle-pits, the only cover consisting of 
such few fence-rails as could be obtained and a 
little earth hastily thrown up by the help of tin 
plates and cups, or, if need be, scooped up with 1 
the hands. These improvised defences (which 
the reports of the Federal generals have styled 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 203 

" fortifications " and "rifle-pits") were a quite 
inadequate protection against bullets, and af- 
forded no relief at all from artillery. It was 
along this road that most of M. C. Butler's 
brigade was posted. Butler, this day com- 
manding Hampton's division, was soon to gain 
the well-earned commission of a major-general. 
Always calm and cool when in action, his hand- 
some, clear-cut face showed on this occasion no 
emotion as he scanned the details of the field. 

The Federals evidently quite realized that on 
the issue of the fight commencing depended 
the success or failure of their expedition. 
Nothing of importance had been accomplished 
by them thus far, for they had torn up only a 
hundred feet or so of railroad track at Trevilian 
station, which could be restored easily without 
any interruption of consequence to the road. 
They therefore attacked with great spirit, com- 
ing up handsomely within short pistol-shot of 
the Confederate line, keeping up a continuous 



204 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

fire from their magazine rifles during the 
charges, but each time met the steady shots of 
the muzzle-loaders fired "at will" by expert 
hands, and each time recoiled, leaving their 
dead and wounded on the field. Meantime in 
artillery they had a great advantage and used 
it well. Major Chew, commanding Hampton's 
batteries, fought his guns with indomitable 
pluck and great skill, and Hart's pieces did 
splendid work, but they were overmatched in 
the proportion of two against one. Butler's 
unprotected line along the Gordonsville road 
was compelled to bear the brunt of the fire. 
Here at one time cartridges became exhausted, 
and while waiting for replenishment the men 
had to endure shell and grape without the com- 
fort of hitting back, a hard thing to do. What 
made it worse was, that some of the poor fel- 
lows said they could see the Federals serving 
out to their troopers drams of whiskey, which 
was very tantalizing under the circumstances, it 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 205 

must be confessed, even by teetotalers. At 
length an ammunition-wagon came clattering 
along just behind the line, the horses at full 
gallop, the driver loudly cracking his whip and 
a man in the rear frantically throwing out 
packages of cartridges, which were eagerly 
caught up, as hungry dogs seize food thrown 
to them. 

Seven charges in all were made. When the 
last was in progress the flashes of the rifles of 
Fitz. Lee announced that he had accomplished 
his mission and was on the enemy's flank. Just 
then a Federal caisson was blown up by a Con- 
federate shell, doing considerable damage. At 
that moment, as if this explosion had been a 
signal prearranged, the whole of Hampton's line 
sprang to their feet, leaped over the breastwork 
and down the embankment, and with a wild yell 
charged, sweeping the enemy back in rapid re- 
treat. That ended the matter, the Federals 
after this only keeping up some irregular firing 



206 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

to cover their rearward movement. By this 
time it was ten o'clock at night. Sheridan's 
entire column, leaving dead and wounded on 
the field, moved rapidly down the road towards 
Carpenter's ford, and continued without halt 
all night, retreating by the same route by which 
it had come. Orders were at once given by 
General Hampton to make pursuit, and Fitz. 
Lee was directed to cut off the enemy from 
Carpenter's ford, but this he did not accom- 
plish, and it was therefore not until about day- 
light that anything serious was done. Mean- 
time Sheridan had chained a start of several 
hours, which enabled him to cross the river. 

In this affair 695 prisoners, including 125 
wounded, were captured by Hampton. The 
losses in his division amounted to 59 killed, 258 
wounded, and 295 missing, and the losses in 
Fitz. Lee's division were very small. The Fed- 
eral reports speak of their having carried off 
about 500 of their wounded, and their dead 




(207) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 209 

and badly wounded left behind were numerous, 
owing to the very severe effect produced by the 
Minie bullets used in the muzzle-loaders. As 
soon as practicable the Confederate wounded, 
and such of the Federals as were in a condition 
to be moved, were brought down to the railroad 
and shipped to the hospital at Gordonsville. 
Some construction cars, without springs and 
open to the weather, were used, a rough mode 
of transportation, but the best that could be 
found. While awaiting the arrival of the train, 
women from the neighborhood collected, bring- 
ing for the wounded what little food they could 
find. It was little enough, but it was all they 
had, for their stores had been consumed or 
plundered by the Federals, and destroyed in 
wanton mischief in many cases. All this, how- 
ever, made no difference to them. They first 
attended to the wants of the half-starved Con- 
federates, and then went their rounds with equal 
care among the wounded Federals. It was a 

14 



210 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

sermon as effective as that on the Mount — a fit- 
ting sequel, certainly; a consequence, if you like. 

Official reports of battles are naturally likely 
to be incorrect, because they are written before 
the heat of conflict has subsided, and a general 
is tempted to make a better showing for him- 
self than facts warrant. Misrepresentations are 
also often the result of false information received 
from others. 

General Sheridan has fallen into many mate- 
rial errors in his report of this battle. He leaves 
one under the impression that the proximity of 
Hampton was known to him the day before the 
battle, but this is contradicted by the statements 
of Torbert, who was in the advance, and of others 
of his officers, which prove he was surprised. 
Sheridan says he commenced the fight by attack- 
ing the Confederates occupying fortifications, 
but in fact the Confederates were the attacking 
party, and had no fortifications whatever. He 
remarks that infantry reinforcements were re- 



HAMP TON AND HIS GA VALET. 211 

ceived by Hampton in the second day's fight, 
and states that infantry were at Gordonsville, 
and gives this as among his reasons for not 
carrying out the purposes of his expedition ; 
but there was no infantry in the fight, and none 
at Gordonsville, nor nearer than Richmond. He 
speaks of Hampton's force holding rifle-pits, and 
being relieved by troops in a train of cars from 
Gordonsville, but there were no rifle-pits, and 
no train of cars, and no troops. He claims in 
one place to have captured only 370 prisoners, 
and in another 500, yet the entire list of " miss- 
ing" from Hampton's division, the only division 
from which he could have made captures, was 
295. Many of these were wounded, and some 
were detailed as nurses, but were carried off as 
prisoners. He would lead one to suppose that 
he destroyed the railroad between Trevilian sta- 
tion and Louisa Courthouse, but in fact he never 
reached Louisa Courthouse at all, and it was 
only for a hundred or two feet at Trevilian sta- 



212 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

tion that the railroad was interrupted, and the 
break there was a trifling injury easily repaired. 

General Torbert says, "They have a great 
advantage over us from the fact that they have 
a very large brigade of mounted infantry armed 
with the rifle musket." This, of course, alluded 
to the muzzle-loaders of Butler's men, and to 
assert that these gave an advantage to troops 
fighting against magazine rifles, is about as rea- 
sonable as to say that bows and arrows are bet- 
ter weapons than fire-arms. 

On the person of a Federal prisoner, captured 
during their retreat, was found a diary, now in 
the possession of General Hampton, with the 
following entries : 

"Saturday, June nth. Fight at Trevilian 
station. Captured and killed 600 rebs. 

"Sunday, June 1 2 th. Fought on same ground. 
Got whipped like the devil. Lost more men 
than the rebs did the day previous. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR T. 213 

" Monday, June 13th. Retreat back towards 
Fredericksburg." 

In an account of this affair written by Gen- 
eral Davies, it is said that 500 prisoners were 
taken by Custer in the fight on Saturday morn- 
ing, but he has certainly been misinformed. Not 
only was that number of prisoners not lost at all, 
but, besides this, Custer's brigade was in no 
condition to make captures, having been torn to 
pieces by Rosser, a fourth at least of his com- 
mand placed hors de combat, or made prisoners, 
and his train, headquarter wagon, and caissons 
captured and carried off. 

On June 14th, in a letter to General Lee, the 
following remark about the Trevilian fight is 
made by General Hampton : 

" Butler's brigade held their ground against 
seven desperate charges under as heavy fire — 
artillery and musketry — as troops are often sub- 
jected to, without even giving way a foot." 

Let us sum up General Sheridan's part in this 



214 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

fight. He was in the dark concerning Hamp- 
ton's whereabouts, was surprised by the attack, 
and in a dangerous . position, if the orders given 
by Hampton had been carried out by Fitz. Lee. 
He seemed to be lacking in information about 
the topography of the country, and to be grop- 
ing somewhat in the dark. Custer's demon- 
stration in the rear of Hampton happened ac- 
cidentally, but when it occured, this opportunity 
ought to have sufficed him to overwhelm Hamp- 
ton's division by sheer weight of numbers, the 
odds then being three against one. By delay 
in renewing his attack until the afternoon of the 
second day, time was allowed Fitz. Lee's divi- 
sion, until then separated and useless, to form 
a junction with Hampton's division and thus 
to render assistance. 

Sheridan having crossed the North Anna 
river at Carpenter's ford during the night of 
June 1 2th, proceeded to Spotsylvania Court- 
house and thence across the Mattaponi and 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 215 

down its north bank, pursuing a not materially 
different route in his retreat from that taken in 
his advance, and reached White House, on the 
Pamunkey river, on June 20th. During these 
eight days Hampton, in following Sheridan, 
was compelled to keep upon the south or op- 
posite bank of the rivers in order to interpose 
his force between him and Grant's army, which 
he was seeking to rejoin. In this way, too, 
the Virginia Central railroad was effectually 
covered from molestation. This course, instead 
of a direct pursuit, was rendered necessary 
because Sheridan was provided with a pontoon- 
train enabling him to cross the rivers at any 
point, whilst Hampton had no pontoons. The 
two commands, however, were near together 
during these eight days, frequently in sight of 
each other, and there were occasional small 
skirmishes, Hampton pressing and seeking to 
bring his antagonist to battle, which the latter 
always studiously declined. 



216 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

Shortly before reaching White House, Sheri- 
dan, who had been shut off from news for eight 
days, received intelligence from his army, which 
had before this effected its retreat to the south 
side of the James river, and commenced the 
siege of Petersburg. Orders were given him 
to break up the depot at White House, and to 
convoy the supplies to his army, guarding them 
in transit by the infantry garrison and his two 
divisions of cavalry. Previous to Sheridan's 
reaching White House, and while he was occu- 
pied forwarding his wounded to Washington 
by transports on the York river, Hampton sent 
Fitz. Lee to capture the depot at White House. 
A demonstration was accordingly made and 
several pieces of artillery were opened upon the 
position, but Fitz. Lee reported it to be too 
strong for him. It appears that' the garrison 
consisted of 2,444 infantry and some artillery. 
The capture of the stores, and depriving Sheri- 
dan of reinforcement from the troops there, 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT 217 

would have been a good stroke. Considerable 
anxiety was felt at Grant's headquarters about 
the fate of this place, and many despatches 
were exchanged. 

After resting for a day at White House, 
Sheridan, thus reinforced, commenced to march 
in the direction of the James river, escorting a 
train of 800 wagons, and managed to cross the 
Chickahominy. There was skirmishing during 
this time, but without decisive results. Fear- 
ing he would endeavor to pass up the James 
river towards Richmond from Charles City 
Courthouse, Hampton took position to prevent 
this. The Confederates had at this time been 
reinforced by Chambliss' brigade from W. H. F. 
Lee's division, and by the unattached brigade 
commanded by General Gary. Sheridan mean- 
time finding himself thus headed off from his 
intended crossing, made for the river at a land- 
ing from which his command could be ferried 
over by the Federal gunboats, and sent a mes- 



218 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

senger to Grant asking for reinforcements. 
But meantime it was necessary to cover the 
wagon-train and gain time to enable it to reach 
its destination. From this resulted a sharp 
fight. 

General Gregg with his division was ordered 
by Sheridan to hold, at all hazards, his position 
confronting Hampton near Samaria church. 
He was told he must, without fail, hold it until 
the wagon-train reached a place of safety. 
Gregg accordingly fortified his ground and 
made all preparations to carry out his orders. 
His troopers and horses had been rested, well 
fed, and supplied with ample rations at White 
House, and his numbers had been augmented 
by recruits. Hampton's force, on the other 
hand, except the two small brigades mentioned 
as having just joined his command, had been 
marching and fighting continuously for sixteen 
consecutive days ; food had been very scarce, 
and their privations, consequently, severe. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 219 

Often the hungry fellows, as they watched their 
animals browsing on grass, or, in its absence, on 
any green thing, could not avoid envy, wishing 
they, too, could graze. The tax on physical 
strength and the strain on the nervous system 
had been very great. From casualties and ex- 
haustion the number of effective troopers and 
horses was much reduced, and it should be 
remembered that, at the commencement of the 
expedition, the odds were two to one against 
them. 

Hampton, however^ with his keen eye for 
position, perceived his opportunity and deter- 
mined to demolish Gregg. He well knew he 
could rely upon the pluck and endurance of his 
men, and they, in turn, implicitly trusted him. 

It was four o'clock on that hot afternoon of 
June 24th that Gary's brigade was dismounted 
and took position near Nance's shop, to operate 
on the enemy's flank in connection with an attack 
on his front. As Gary became engaged Cham- 



220 HAMPTON AND Hlb r UA VALHT. 

bliss' brigade was thrown forward, and, by a 
movement handsomely executed, connected 
with Gary's line, and the two brigades hurled 
themselves impetuously on the exposed flank. 
At the same time the whole line in front, under 
the immediate command of Fitz. Lee, rushed 
upon the enemy's works. Gregg made a stout 
resistance from his strong position with a hot 
fire of breech-loaders and well-served artillery, 
but after a stiff, though short, fight he was 
completely routed and forced into a precipitate 
retreat. Then Hampton brought up the Phil- 
lips and Jeff. Davis Legions of his division 
and charged the fugitives with the sabre. This 
was done in fine style, men and horses seem- 
ing to have quite forgotten fatigue and hunger, 
and for three miles the pursuit was continued. 
It was not until ten o'clock at night, and within 
two and half miles of Charles City Courthouse, 
that bridle-reins were drawn. There were cap- 
tured one hundred and fifty-seven prisoners, 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 223 

including one colonel and twelve commissioned 
officers, and all the enemy's wounded were left 
behind where they fell. Gregg's division was 
badly used up by this affair, and crippled until 
recruited. The wagon-train, it is true, pro- 
tected by Torbert's cavalry division and by the 
infantry reinforcements sent by General Grant 
and Ben. Butler, was moved from Charles City 
Courthouse to Douthat's landing, and thence, 
covered by gunboats, ferried across the river 
and thus saved ; but it was beyond the bounds 
of possibility for Hampton to prevent this with 
his small force. 

On June 26th Hampton crossed the James 
river with his division, leaving Fitz. Lee on the 
north side, and Sheridan completed his crossing 
two days later. 

Thus ended the Trevilian expedition, or cam- 
paign, as it is usually termed, and we can now 
sum up the results. 

The purpose was, as stated by General Grant 



224 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

in his report of July 22, 1865, that Sheridan's 
cavalry should go " to Charlottesville and Gor- 
donsville to break up the railroad connection be- 
tween Richmond and the Shenandoah Valley 
and Lynchburg!' These, then, were the specific, 
admitted objects, and certainly they were not 
accomplished in whole nor in part. Nor was 
the James River canal destroyed or injured. 
The cutting off from Lee's army of the sup- 
plies furnished by the Shenandoah Valley was 
effected during the autumn by Sheridan, when 
he devastated that region, operating with an 
army about fifty-five thousand strong against a 
force numbering little more than a fourth of 
his own, but in the Trevilian expedition he ac- 
complished absolutely nothing of this. Nor 
did he bring back Hunter with him, as Grant 
expected. The facts speak for themselves. 
Indeed, Sheridan, in his report to his command- 
ing general, says : "I regret my inability to carry 
out your instructions." The sole result obtained 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALBT. 225 

by him was a few rails taken up at Trevilian's 
station, amounting to nothing. 

Of the results accomplished by Hampton, on 
the other hand, the importance ought to be 
understood. Grant had just been compelled 
by Lee to abandon his plan of capturing Rich- 
mond by open attacks and had determined to 
endeavor to reduce it by regular siege. His 
army, now with the heart taken out of it by all 
the slaughter of the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, 
and Cold Harbor, was in no condition to make 
renewed assaults upon the victorious columns 
of the^Vrmy of Northern Virginia, and must, 
instead of this, try to starve them out in the 
trenches by investing Petersburg. To this 
end, their/ lines of communication must be 
effectually severed. Of vital importance in 
this respect was the destruction of the routes 
for obtaining food supplies from the direction 
of the Shenandoah Valley. If this could have 
been done by Sheridan, the effect upon the 

15 



226 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALET. 

campaign just at that juncture might have been 
fatal, and he would have had free hand to do 
this if Hampton had not defeated him at Tre- 
vilian and driven him off from his objective 
points. 

, Allusion has already been made to some of 
the errors contained in the Federal official re- 
ports of this expedition, and it will suffice to 
say that General Grant's report, being neces- 
sarily based solely on information derived from 
these, and not from his own knowledge, falls, 
of course, into the same mistakes. Hampton 
captured 852 prisoners exclusive of the wounded 
that fell into his hands. The prisoners taken 
by Sheridan, including wounded and nurses 
carried off, could not possibly have exceeded 
300. Their wounded at Trevilian, removed 
with them by the Federals, amounted by their 
own accounts to 500, and 125 wounded were 
left there, besides numerous dead. By the 
Federal returns their losses during the Tre- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 227 

vilian expedition are officially given as 15 12, 
but this is probably considerably under the 
actual number of killed, wounded, and cap- 
tured. The total losses in Hampton's division 
were under 700, and those in Fitz. Lee's division 
were very light, as it was not engaged in any 
severe fighting. 

On receiving informatian of the rout of Sheri- 
dan at Samaria Church, General Lee wrote to 
General Hampton the following note : 

" Headq'rs A. N. V., 
" June 25th, 1864, 6% P. M. 

" General : 

" Your note of to-day from Phillips 
House has just been received. I am re- 
joiced at your success. I thank you and 
the officers and men of your command for 
the gallantry and determination with which 
they have assaulted Sheridan's forces and 
caused his expedition to end in defeat. So 



228 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 

soon as Sheridan crosses the river, I wish 
you to join me. 

" I am, very respectfully, 
Your obt. servant, 

"R. E. Lee. 

"Major-General Wade Hampton." 

And thus the Trevilian cavalry duel was de- 
cided, and as it was purely a cavalry fight from 
first to last, no infantry having the possibility 
of giving physical or moral support to either 
side, and as the duration of the movements was 
sufficient amply to test the ability of the two 
leaders and the fighting power and endurance 
of the men, I do not think it is going beyond 
the inevitable logical sequence to say that the 
result of an impartial inquiry must confirm the 
fact that Hampton was proved to be incom- 
parably the abler cavalry general of the two 
contestants. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE WILSON RAID 



HEN Hampton reached the south side 
of the James river and rejoined his 
army his command greatly needed 
rest to recuperate men and horses. But this 
was not to be. 

Petersburg was practically an outwork of 
Richmond; they must stand or fall together. 
The line of communication by railroad to the 
Shenandoah Valley region — the Virginia Cen- 
tral — had been saved by Hampton in the Tre- 
vilian expedition. But there were three roads 
leading to the South. Of these, the Weldon 
railroad ran nearly due south from Petersburg, 
and was the first to be exposed to attack, but 

(229) 




230 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

its seizure would not be fatal while the other 
two lines were preserved. The Southside, from 
Petersburg, and the Danville railroad from Rich- 
mond, the remaining two lines, having a junc- 
tion at Burkeville, were covered by the right 
flank of the Confederate army. A permanent 
lodgment upon them by the enemy would effect 
the investment of Petersburg and necessitate 
its evacuation. 

Grant had by this time become convinced of 
the futility of direct attacks against Lee's fortified 
positions, and henceforth his chief efforts were 
to be directed to turning his adversary's right 
flank, and thus occupying his lines of commu- 
nication. The Weldon railroad would, of 
necessity, as we have said, be the object of his 
first movements. For this purpose, on June 
2 1 st, he commenced to swing round to his left 
to effect a lodgment on that railroad. In this 
he met a severe check, losing in the two fol- 
lowing days' fighting two thousand two hun- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 23 i 

dred prisoners, besides a ghastly list of killed 
and wounded, and failed altogether in accom- 
plishing his purpose. 

On June 21st General James H. Wilson, 
with his own and Kautz's division of cavalry, 
numbering together six thousand seven hun- 
dred and fourteen (< effective mounted men," 
by the field return of June 20, 1864, started 
upon an expedition. Kautz was attached to 
the Army of the James, on the north side of 
the river, commanded by Ben. Butler, and, con- 
sequently, was not nominally attached to Sheri- 
dan's corps, but practically had to be reckoned 
with as part of it, as he could be transferred 
with rapidity from one side of the river to the 
other as needed. The object of the expedi- 
tion was to tear up the rails and permanently 
cripple the Southside, as well as the Danville 
railroad near Burkeville junction. These were 
the orders given to Wilson by Meade, but it 
was originally intended that he should commu- 



232 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

nicate with Hunter, supposed to be near 
Lynchburg, and he was to have been entrusted 
with considerable discretion, including authority 
to pass over into North Carolina. The plans 
were based upon the supposition that Sheri- 
dan would detain Hampton sufficiently long to 
enable Wilson to complete his work. Meade 
writes to Grant to this effect on June 21st : 

" Hampton being yesterday at the White 
House will relieve Wilson of any apprehension 
of being disturbed, and I trust Sheridan will 
keep Hampton occupied. Wilson will be 
instructed, when at the junction, to communicate 
with Hunter, near Lynchburg." 

Wilson had expressed the opinion that he 
could attain the objects of his proposed expe- 
dition provided he was not followed by Hamp- 
ton. In justice to Wilson it should, therefore, 
be remembered that he was warranted in 
believing that such arrangements would be 
made as were necessary to protect him from 



General Hampton's Sword. 

" No me saqnes sin razon, 
No me eubaines sin honor'." 

(233) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALE Y. 235 

Hampton, and also that by the time of his 
return from his raid the Weldon railroad by 
Reams station would be found occupied by his 
friends. Sheridan was not expected at head- 
quarters to render any assistance to Wilson, 
except by keeping Hampton occupied. 

On June 2 2d the raiders passed round the 
right flank of the Confederate lines near Reams 
station, and proceeded on their mission. W. H. 
F. Lee's division made pursuit, and harassed 
their movements, interfering to a certain extent 
with the success of their plans, and doing good 
fighting. In spite of this, however, they pene- 
trated to the Southside railroad and to Burke- 
ville junction, doing a considerable amount of 
damage to the railroads. They then made an 
attempt to destroy the Staunton River bridge, 
which, if successful, would have caused serious 
interruption, as it was an important structure, 
the river being broad and unfordable. In this 
they were foiled by some local militia, who held 



236 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 

a good position on the bridge. From there, 
Wilson turned back, with the intention of regain- 
ing the lines of his army. 

In pursuance of orders received from Gen- 
eral Lee, Hampton moved off his division on 
June 27th to endeavor to intercept Wilson, and 
by noon on the following day reached the neigh- 
borhood of Stony Creek station, on the Weldon 
railroad about ten miles south of Reams sta- 
tion. Having ascertained through scouts the 
direction by which Wilson was coming, Hamp- 
ton communicated with General Lee, suggest- 
ing that some infantry be sent to Reams 
station, as he thought the raiders were pointing 
for that place of crossing, and he also requested 
that Fitz. Lee with his division be ordered to 
take position near there, and keep in :lose com- 
munication with him. These dispositions were 
accordingly made by General Lee. Hampton 
counted upon meeting Wilson on Sappony 
creek, a few miles westward, and sent forward 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 237 

Chambliss' brigade, of W. H. F. Lee's division, 
with orders to charge vigorously as soon as the 
column was met. This was done, and the raid- 
ers were driven back to Sappony church, behind 
which they dismounted and took up a naturally 
strong position. Chambliss' men were also 
quickly dismounted, when they in turn were 
attacked, but held their ground, and their line 
was then strengthened somewhat and a rein- 
forcement of 200 infantry received. Wilson 
made endeavors to break through, but without 
success, and the firing continued during the 
night. Major Chew had only two guns with 
him, but these he used with effect. Meantime 
the Federal commander, thinking he would find 
his own infantry at Reams station, was very 
desirous of escaping in that direction, and made 
his dispositions during the night for that end as 
far as he could. At daylight, however, Hampton 
sent Butler with his own and Rosser's brigade 
round the enemy's left flank. Butler made the 



238 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

necessary detour, threw fonvard the two brig- 
ades dismounted, and Hampton at the same 
time pressed with his line in front. The result 
was that the Federals were entirely routed, 
and broke in various directions in great dis- 
order, leaving dead and wounded behind. The 
general direction of the larger number was for 
Reams station. After pursuing them for a 
couple of miles, taking many prisoners, and 
dispersing scattered detachments, Hampton 
drew off towards Stony Creek station with a 
view of preventing them from getting away by 
crossing between there and Reams station. 
The roads were accordingly properly secured 
to carry out this plan. Two Federal detach- 
ments, separated from the main body, were en- 
countered and dealt with summarily by mounted 
charges. The bridge over Rowanty creek was 
secured and a third detachment run down, scat- 
tered, and broken up. At night a rest was taken 
near Stony Creek station. This situation was 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 239 

occupied because it was central, enabling the 
blow to be struck to the north towards Reams 
station, if the enemy attempted to cross in that 
direction, or to the south, if they should make 
for a crossing at Jarratt station. Meantime 
Hampton was anxiously expecting every mo- 
ment to receive news from Reams station in- 
forming him of what had occurred there, and as 
to what direction the enemy had taken, if they 
had not all been captured. Much to his sur- 
prise no message was received even during the 
night. 

When Hampton had perceived, after the rout, 
that the principal portions of Wilson's force 
were making for Reams station he was well sat- 
isfied, for he knew they would there encounter 
the infantry and Fitz. Lee's division. The raid- 
ers, on the other hand, expected to find their 
own friends established there, but, greatly to 
their consternation, on reaching the neighbor- 
hood of that place, they found themselves con- 



240 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

fronted by hostile infantry and cavalry. At 
first, Wilson did not appreciate the strength of 
the force opposing him, and tried to cut his way 
through, having closed up his artillery and 
wagons and ambulances with his main column, 
which by that time had been to a considerable 
extent reformed. But finding this impossible, 
and that he was being enveloped on both flanks, 
he abandoned all his artillery, consisting of 1 2 
field-guns and 4 howitzers, as well as all his 
wagons and ambulances, and retreated precipi- 
tately back in the direction from which he had 
come. Disembarrassed from all impediments, 
without attempting to preserve much organiza- 
tion or maintain ranks, and with neither ability 
nor intention of further fighting, through woods 
and by-roads they galloped. Kautz, with a part 
of his command, became separated from the 
others, and made off, to the left of Reams sta- 
tion, through the woods in a broken-up condi- 
tion, and somehow got through to the lines of 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR Y. 241 

his army. Wilson made a long detour at a 
very rapid rate, and going round Stony Creek 
station much to the west of it, and continuing 
to dash on without stoppage during the night, 
crossed the Nottoway river near Jarratt, some 
ten miles south of Stony Creek station, and 
eventually reached his army in an exhausted 
and very disorganized state. 

Meantime Hampton had bivouacked his two 
divisions, as stated, near Stony Creek station, 
giving the men a necessary rest, as they had 
been under fire during the previous night. 
Every moment he had been looking for the in- 
formation which should have been despatched 
to him from the cavalry at Reams station, but 
none came. By gray dawn the troopers were 
in marching order, but still not one word had 
been received concerning the result of the fight- 
ing at Reams station, so that it was impossible 
to divine the position of the enemy or of Fitz- 
hugh Lee's division. At nine o'clock on the 

16 



242 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

morning of June 30th a note was received ad- 
dressed to the " Commanding Officer of the 
Troops at Stony Creek depot," from Fitzhugh 
Lee, saying that he was 1 'still pursuing the 
enemy, capturing prisoners, etc.," and that he 
was five miles from Nottoway river, on the 
Hicksford road. The note went on to say that 
he thought " the enemy, after crossing the river, 
will try to cross the railroad at Jarratt depot," 
and that he wished "all the available force sent 
to that point to intercept their march, until he 
got up." Hampton immediately moved his 
command on Jarratt, but when he had arrived 
within five miles of that place his scouts, who 
had been sent ahead, reported to him that the 
enemy had passed there at daylight. A rapid 
march was made to endeavor still to cut them 
off from their lines, but it was too late. With 
proper concert of action between the cavalry at 
Reams station and Hampton, that is to say, if 
the latter had been informed in the usual way 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 243 

by his officer in command there, nothing could 
have prevented the capture of Wilson and all 
the troops then with him. 

There were captured by Hampton 806 pris- 
oners on the day of the Sappony church en- 
gagement, and about 500 more were taken at 
Reams station. All the artillery, twelve guns 
and four howitzers, and the wagons and ambu- 
lances of Wilson, fell into the hands of the 
Confederates, as has been said. The Federal 
reports state that they had taken from the 
farmers along the route of their raid some 5,000 
horses. This is probably an overestimate, but 
whatever the number was, they were all re- 
covered, and this is also true of much private 
property, consisting of household furniture, 
vehicles, and personal articles. In one of the 
wagons taken was found a silver communion 
service belonging to St. John's church, in 
Lunenburg county. The pillaging had been 
so extensive that much attention was attracted 



244 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

to the subject, and an investigation was insti- 
tuted at Federal headquarters. The generals 
concerned admitted the facts, and expressed 
great regret, attributing the robberies to an 
organized system existing among the men. It 
was observed that Kautz's division had for a 
long time served under Ben. Butler. 

Besides the 1,300 prisoners lost by Wilson, 
there were numerous dead and wounded left 
on the field. But this, though bad enough, was 
not the worst of it for him, for the demoraliza- 
tion produced by the mode of their escape was 
even more damaging to his troops than the 
losses. It required a long time and much re- 
cruiting to bring Wilson's division back to a 
state of efficiency, and the command of Kautz 
never recovered. Hampton's losses were in- 
significant, being only two killed, eighteen 
wounded, and two missing in his own division, 
and those of the other divisions were quite 
small, but I have not the exact figures. 



HAMPTON AND EI8 CA VALRY. 245 

The destruction wrought by Wilson's raid, 
though overestimated by him, was important 
for the moment, but not of lasting injury, the 
railroads being rapidly repaired. Even by 
most Federal authorities it is stated that the 
results accomplished by no means compensated 
for the losses sustained by the raiders, which 
must have considerably exceeded one-fourth of 
the 6, 7 1 4 men with which the expedition started, 
to say nothing of the even more serious damage 
suffered from demoralization. The temporary 
inconvenience experienced by Lee from the in- 
jury to these railroads would, of course, have 
been very much greater if his line of communi- 
cation by the Virginia Central railroad had not 
been preserved by Hampton. 

After the rout of Sappony church, General 
Hampton led Chambliss' brigade in some of 
the charges made on detachments encountered. 
Two flags were captured on one of these occa- 
sions by members of the Ninth Virginia, and 



246 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALET. 

the men greatly wished to present these colors 
to their leader. It was the rule, however, to 
turn over captured property to the authorities, 
and these flags were therefore forwarded to the 
War Department, but from there were sent 
back to General Hampton, accompanied by a 
very complimentary letter from General Lee. 
It is needless to say they never were recaptured, 
but carefully preserved as a memento of a well- 
fought field, and also of the kind feelings and 
bravery of his followers. 

On the morning of June 29th the last of 
Sheridan's force had crossed the James river, 
and on the evening of that day moved out 
towards Reams station to endeavor to assist 
Wilson. They were too late, however, for 
this purpose, and even if they had arrived 
sooner were in no condition at that time to try 
conclusions. 

Thus were frustrated the expeditions in- 
tended to destroy the Virginia Central railroad 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 247 

and the roads south of the James. The entire 
losses in killed, wounded, and missing in 
Hampton's division, from the commencement 
of the Trevilian expedition until the final dis- 
persion of the Wilson raid, amounted to seven 
hundred and nineteen, including twenty-one 
casualties in Chew's batteries of horse artillery, 
and the losses in Fitz. Lee's division were so 
small as not to swell the aggregate number 
materially. 

The results above referred to were ob- 
tained by Hampton with a proportionately 
very small force acting against the three divis- 
ions of Sheridan's corps and the division of 
Kautz, which latter had to be reckoned with as 
practically a part of the Army of the Potomac, 
as has been before observed, as much as if it 
had belonged to Sheridan's corps. Not only 
had this been accomplished, but also the four 
Federal divisions named had been so roughly 
handled and so much reduced in numbers and 



248 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

morale that they were placed in a state of 
enforced quiescence for nearly six weeks until 
largely recruited, and in fact never again during 
the campaign of 1864 were as formidable or 
effective as before. Never again did this cavalry 
make any serious effort to interfere with Lee's 
communications. The losses in Hampton's 
command had been small in proportion to that 
of the enemy, and its morale could not have 
been better. Throughout all the fighting and 
privations endured, the men never failed to 
appreciate that they were handled both with 
excellent judgment as well as with brilliancy, 
and that every life lost or wound received was 
the price paid for a more than compensating 
military advantage ; that for each was obtained 
a quid pro quo. But, more than this, they 
knew Hampton for what he was. His amiable 
disposition and attractive manners — always 
dignified and military, but kindly, frank, and 
gracious — imbued all those under his com- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 249 

mand with a personal feeling of attachment. 
He seemed to be acquainted with every pri- 
vate, remembering faces and names in a won- 
derful manner ; and it also used to be said he 
knew every horse in the corps. It is certain 
he would often notice when a man was riding 
an animal other than his own, and inquire of 
him the reason. Besides this, his great per- 
sonal gallantry and individual prowess — his 
figure always to be seen in the front — the shar- 
ing of fatigue and privations, the victories, 
which his presence seemed to make assured, 
caused among his soldiers that sentiment of 
devoted loyalty which comes only to good 
fighters serving under a born leader of men. 
Amidst the tramp of the horses, the crack of 
the rifles, and the roar of artillery, they would, 
at sight of their General, feel that inspiration 
which for the time being exalts ordinary men 
into heroes. 



CHAPTER VII. 



PICKETING SHERIDAN TRANSFERRED TO COMMAND 

IN THE SHENANDOAH VALLEY DIVISION COM- 
MANDERS ORDERED TO REPORT DIRECT TO HAMP- 
TON CHANGE OF STAFF. 

FTER the operations just described, 
there were no events of sufficient 
importance to relate until the early 
part of August was reached. In the meantime, 
however, there was skirmishing frequently, and 
two somewhat sharp brushes, but the Federal 
cavalry did not venture much beyond their in- 
fantry. Everything practicable was done to re- 
cruit the horses of Hampton's command, but 
the mode of procuring remounts, as before ex- 
plained, was the weakest feature in the system. 
Picketing there was, of course, and plenty of it, 

(250) 





(251) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 253 

then and throughout the campaign, and this is 
a duty the cavalry dislike far more than fighting. 
Not only are there hardships and loneliness on 
post, but annoyances and dangers without ex- 
citement, or credit to be gained. One instance, 
a very ordinary occurrence, may serve to give 
some idea of what is meant. Long after this, 
in the early winter, a detachment of cavalry 
was picketing the extreme lines near Stony 
creek. There was one post at which about 
this time two videttes had been murdered at 
night. The term " murdered" is hardly incor- 
rect, for to take a life secretly and wantonly, 
without military purpose or special justification, 
is morally murder, at least in the estimation of 
an intended victim. Naturally this post was 
not a favorite, and it may have been a compli- 
ment, but it was a disagreeable one, to be 
assigned to it. So thought a trooper as he 
took his station there one night at about ten 
o'clock, to remain four hours before being re- 



254 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

lieved. It was literally "pitch-dark," the post 
being in the midst of a wood with a ravine on 
the right separating it from the other stations. 
There was a light, chilly rain falling, and as the 
man, wet and uncomfortable, sat rigid on his 
perfectly motionless horse, whose ears he was 
unable to see, he could not help thinking that 
it was just the night to be sitting in a dry room, 
however rough, before burning logs, with a 
tumbler of hot whiskey, " though lost to sight, 
to mem'ry dear," beside him, and a pipe in his 
mouth, and also how snug it would feel covered 
up with plenty of blankets in a clean, warm, 
soft bed, hearing the music of the rain-drops on 
the roof. It was perfectly still, except for the 
faint sound of the rain upon the dead leaves. 
After an hour or more all such reflections as 
the above were effectually dispelled, for, from 
the direction of the ravine, he detected a slight 
noise, altogether different from that of the rain. 
It was a stealthy footstep on the wet ground. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 255 

Quite wide awake now, he listened intently, 
and there was no doubt that the cause of the 
sound was gradually coming nearer to him. It 
was evident, he thought, that if he was not to 
play the role of number three in murdered 
videttes, it was high time to take a hand in ar- 
ranging the programme. To fire on the new- 
comer would not serve the purpose, for, if his 
shot missed, as it probably would in the dark- 
ness, his exact position would be perceived and 
taken advantage of, or, if the unwelcome visitor 
made off, the picket-post would be turned out 
on hearing the report of the gun, and no evi- 
dence of the presence of an enemy being dis- 
covered, there would have been a laugh at his 
expense for being "skeered at nothin'." So 
the vidette noiselessly slipped off his horse on 
the left side, took a stand just behind the ani- 
mal, and quietly drew his sabre. Rifle and 
pistol, loaded with paper cartridges, might snap 
in the wet weather, but, as Pat says of his shil- 



256 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

lalah, the sabre " never misses fire." Shorten- 
ing his arm, ready to drive the point with a will, 
he waited patiently for the stranger to develop 
his tactics. He inferred the murderer would 
think him seated in the saddle, and as soon as 
the exact position of the horse was ascertained, 
would leap upon his supposed victim with a 
knife, and then would be the moment to show 
the counter-stroke by running him through the 
body. For a few seconds the sounds ceased 
altogether, but then commenced again ap- 
proaching, the unseen person even more 
cautious than before. At length he stopped, 
remaining quite still, and must have been 
almost within reach of the horse ; probably was 
groping about with his hands feeling for him. 
The trooper now felt confident the assassin was 
within reach, and was about to thrust with his 
sword, but restrained his impatience, thinking 
to be absolutely certain of his man if he awaited 
the misdirected attack which he expected. Just 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 257 

then the horse, who up to that moment had re- 
mained as still as the grave, moved slightly. 
At this, whoever it was glided quickly away 
towards the ravine, and thus ended the incident. 
The vidette was very much annoyed at this, 
blaming himself for allowing the wretch to 
escape to ply his nefarious occupation with 
more success, perhaps, some other night. 

On August 2d General Sheridan was relieved 
of the command of the cavalry of the Potomac 
and ordered to the Shenandoah Valley. Thus 
was completed his four months of service at 
the head of the cavalry corps, and from this 
date his career does not concern our narrative, 
but the results obtained by him during this time 
are a pertinent subject for discussion. 

In April, Sheridan had taken command of a 
fine body of cavalry, the bequest of Pleas- 
anton, in numbers and equipment almost 
absurdly out of proportion to the force availa- 
ble for Hampton. General Grant gave him 

17 



258 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

every opportunity to distinguish himself with a 
free hand. But during the progress of the 
" overland campaign " it is not apparent where 
he succeeded very well in veiling the move- 
ments of his own infantry or in unmasking 
those of his enemies. He made a dash to 
capture Richmond with a force which would 
seem not to have been inadequate, but failed 
to make any impression. His operations 
against Lee's lines of communication had no 
important effect, and were costly to his own 
command. Grant's lines of communication on 
land were so fully guarded by infantry as to 
afford him no occupation. He fought well, but 
always found his match in fighting, and much 
more than his match as to strategy in Hamp- 
ton, and his losses were, proportionately, very 
large. In fact, he was far, indeed, from being 
a master of strategy, and whatever he suc- 
ceeded in accomplishing, so far as his career 
against the Army of Northern Virginia is con- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 259 

cerned, was done by sheer weight of greatly 
superior numbers. In his report, which was 
made some time subsequently, of his operations 
from May 4th to August 1st, he remarks that 
his command did as heavy fighting as the 
infantry, and that the casualties were as great in 
proportion. In another place he says he thinks 
his losses did not exceed six thousand, which is 
somewhat more than appears from the com- 
piled returns, but these latter, from causes 
already mentioned, cannot be considered cor- 
rect. But even if his losses did in fact only 
amount to six thousand, they still about 
equalled in number the entire force with which 
Hampton fought him. He also says his cam- 
paign effected "the almost total annihilation of 
the rebel cavalry." How wide of the mark this 
is, the reader can judge from the facts related, 
as well as when he adds : " I am led to believe, 
on information derived from reliable sources, 
that the enemy's cavalry was superior to ours 



260 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

in numbers." Of course, every effort was made 
by the Confederates to mislead him as to their 
small force, and bogus information from pre- 
tended prisoners, and other reports intended to 
deceive, seem to have served to effectt his pur- 
pose, but the actual numbers available for 
Hampton are now matter of record. 

On August nth the following order was 
issued : 

" Headq'rs Dep't Nor. Va. r 
" i ith August, 1864. 

" (Extract.) 
"Special Order No. 189. 

"VII. Maj.-Gen'l Wade Hampton is 
assigned to the command of the cavalry of 
this army. 

" Division commanders will report to him 
accordingly. 

" By command of 

" General R. E. Lee. 

" W. H. Taylor, 

"A. A. Gen'!." 



General Wade Hampton of the tears of 1776 and 1812. The 
grandfather of General Hampton 

(2G1) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 263 

This requires some explanation. After Major- 
General J. E. B. Stuart received his death-wound 
on May n, 1864, Hampton, as Senior Major- 
General of cavalry, took command of the corps, 
as has been stated in a former part of this nar- 
rative. During Stuart's life-time all the divis-. 
ions, unless detached on special service, had 
reported to and received orders from corps 
headquarters. When Hampton took command 
the system in this respect was changed, the gen- 
erals of divisions reporting to army headquar- 
ters, except when engaged in actual movements 
under the personal direction of the corps com- 
mander. The disadvantages to the service, and 
the sources of embarrassment to the corps com- 
mander, which would naturally be produced by 
this change are obvious, and it requires but lit- 
tle " reading between the lines" in the accounts 
given of operations to perceive that on important 
occasions the extent of successes was diminished 
from this cause. One would indeed anticipate 



264 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

that this change would practically neutralize, to 
a great extent, the advantages of corps organi- 
zation, and disintegrate a command measur- 
ably into divisional composition. Instead of a 
compact unit, as a corps should be, with division 
commanders directly controlled by a single will, 
through which celerity of action, the essence of 
cavalry usefulness, is obtained, there is a risk, at 
times, of a division of wills, and it is a homely but 
true saying that "too many cooks spoil the broth." 
It is not advisable, at this late day, to discuss 
how this change happened to be brought about, 
or by whom, but it is necessary to understand 
clearly that it was not occasioned by any wish 
on the part of General Lee to curtail Hampton's 
sphere of authority, and the order of August 
nth quoted above, which undid the wrong, is a 
proof of this. The relations between these two 
generals were always of the most friendly and 
cordial nature, and it is not the least of the 
pleasures derived from reading their corre- 



HAMPTON AND EI8 CA VALET. 265 

spondence to observe the entire confidence Lee 
reposed in Hampton's ability, and how he relied 
more and more upon his gallantry, skill, and 
good judgment, as this most exacting of cam- 
paigns progressed. 

In connection with the order of August nth 
came the assignment to Hampton of the staff 
attached to the headquarters of the cavalry 
when Stuart commanded, and this necessitated 
his parting with all but three of his military 
family — Lowndes, Taylor, and Preston Hamp- 
ton — the others continuing on the divisional 
staff under General M. C. Butler. His new 
staff consisted of able officers and agreeable 
gentlemen, but nevertheless the separation from 
old and tried friends could not but be a wrench. 
His chief of staff, Major Theodore G. Barker, 
A. A. G., had been close to him since the com- 
mencement of the war, having been adjutant 
of the Hampton Legion, in the organization of 
which he was largely concerned, and with whose 



266 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 

conduct on the field he was conspicuously asso- 
ciated. When General Hampton was trans- 
ferred to the cavalry in 1862, Barker had 
accompanied him as adjutant of the " First brig- 
ade," and was engaged in the brilliant opera- 
tions of that command, and had become adju- 
tant of the division, when his General was 
assigned to one. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



CHANGES IN THE FEDERAL AND CONFEDERATE 

CAVALRY FORCES, AND THE NUMBERS OF EACH 

ENGAGEMENTS OF AUGUST l6TH AND 1 7TH ON 
THE NORTH SIDE OF THE JAMES BUTLER'S SUC- 
CESS ON AUGUST 2 3D AT REAMS STATION BAT- 
TLE OF REAMS STATION ON AUGUST 25TH. 

HEN Sheridan went to the Shenan- 
doah Valley the First division (Tor- 
bert) of cavalry of the Army of 
the Potomac accompanied him, and on August 
1 7th the Third division (Wilson) was also sent 
there. The Second division (Gregg) remained 
with the army. This division, after all its heavy 
losses, was recruited, and numbered present 
for duty in September, according to the of- 
ficial report of that date, 4,670. Kautz's divis- 

(267) 




268 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 

ion, at that time about 2,000 strong, though 
nominally attached to the Army of the James, 
practically increased the force opposed to 
Hampton. Besides this, there were bodies of 
unattached cavalry with the Army of the James, 
which swelled the odds against him still more. 
The facilities possessed by Grant of transfer- 
ring troops easily from one bank of the James 
river to the other by means of pontoon bridges 
and steamers rendered his cavalry as well as in- 
fantry quickly available on either side desired. 
General Grant, in September, estimates his 
available cavalry at 9,000, but General Meade 
thinks these two divisions, exclusive of the un- 
attached, numbered much less. It is surprising 
how inaccurately the accounts were kept, and 
how little reliance can be placed on them. 
Fitzhugh Lee's division was detached and sent 
to the Valley of the Shenandoah early in Au- 
gust. The two divisions which remained with 
the Army of Northern Virginia, by the monthly 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 269 

return of August 31st, are credited with 5,344 
men, but many of these were without horses, 
and others had unserviceable ones, owing to 
the wretched system for remounting already 
referred to, and thus the effective strength was 
greatly reduced. On September 27th Rosser's 
brigade was also sent to the Shenandoah Val- 
ley, thus further reducing the corps. It should 
be remembered that the words "present for 
duty" in the Confederate monthly or other 
reports meant all the men in camp, whether 
provided with horses or dismounted. It may 
also be repeated that many returns in the pub- 
lished "Records of the Union and Confederate 
Armies " are incorrect, as for instance the re- 
turn of September 10, 1864, in which Lomax's 
division of cavalry appears as part of Hamp- 
ton's corps, whereas such was never the case, 
as it was in the Shenandoah Valley. Dearing's 
brigade was at first unattached, but served un- 
der Hampton frequently in the late summer or 



270 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

autumn. Gary's brigade was unattached, and 
served with the Richmond-defence troops 
north of the James, and not with Hampton, un- 
less he was incidentally in their neighborhood. 
Thus the Federal cavalry remaining with the 
army greatly exceeded Hampton's force, but 
during the rest of the campaign they kept close 
to their infantry, and accomplished, and in fact 
attempted, no separate enterprises. The Con- 
federate cavalry were able to keep them in 
bounds and at the same time do much useful 
work in connection with the infantry as well as 
on their own account. It is not the purpose of 
this narrative to give a detailed account of their 
services, but only to describe some of their 
movements. 

On August nth General Hampton received 
a confidential communication from General 
Lee, directing him to move his division, Gen- 
eral Butler commanding, to Culpeper to take 
part in a contemplated demonstration in that 



HAMPTON AND BIS CAVALRY. 271 

quarter, having reference to the Valley. He 
accordingly crossed the river and marched in 
that direction, but on August 14th received a 
telegram from Lee recalling him, as the plan 
had been changed and he was wanted near 
Richmond. By ten o'clock on the morning of 
August 1 6th he reached White Tavern, eight 
miles from Richmond, on the Charles City 
road, and following the maxim of Napoleon by 
pressing forward towards the sounds of heavy 
fire, was in time to support W. H. F. Lee, who 
was seriously engaged, having been ordered 
to the north of the James river on August 14th 
to meet the enemy's advance. As soon as 
Grant had thoroughly fortified his lines in front 
of Petersburg, he could leave sufficient force 
there to hold them and yet spare troops to 
strive to edge round to the left to effect a lodg- 
ment on the Weldon railroad leading South, in 
carrying out the programme which he had laid 
down for himself, as already explained. At 



272 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

the same time he would transfer troops to the 
north side of the James to make a demon- 
stration there in connection with that on the 
south side of the river, hoping thus to gain an 
advantage on one side or the other ; perhaps 
to capture Richmond by a dash before Lee 
could come up in force. He was occupied in 
one of these double movements now, besides 
having the object of deterring Lee from rein- 
forcing Early in the Valley, and had reached 
on the north side within eight miles of Rich- 
mond. 

W. H. F. Lee was hard pressed by a much 
superior force, chiefly infantry. He was forced 
back somewhat, and Brigadier-General Cham- 
bliss, commanding one of his brigades, was killed 
while gallantly rallying his men : an excellent 
officer, whose death was a great loss to the army. 
Just at this critical juncture Hampton's division 
(now Butler's) came upon the scene, and was 
moved, dismounted, to the right and rear of 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 273 

the enemy, and W. H. F. Lee with his division 
and Gary's brigade attacked in front. The 
result was a speedy success, regaining the lost 
ground and driving the enemy beyond. Some 
prisoners, mostly infantry, were taken. On the 
following day General Lee determined to 
attack on the front, having by that time, in conse- 
quence of the delay effected, got up enough 
men for the purpose. In this the cavalry par- 
ticipated, W. H. F. Lee's division in front and 
Butler's turning the right flank. The enemy 
were driven back, breastworks captured, and 
one hundred and sixty-seven prisoners taken by 
the cavalry. That night the enemy retreated, 
and Hampton, in pursuance of orders, took 
up his former position on the south side of the 
river. 

General Lee's official communication to Gen- 
eral Hampton about these operations was highly 
commendatory, and in it he says : "I desire to ' 
express the gratification I have derived from the 

18 



274 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

conduct of the cavalry during its late opera- 
tions north of James river. * * * Please 
express to the officers and men my thanks for 
their gallant and valuable services." 

General Chambliss had fallen, as has been 
mentioned, just as W. H. F. Lee's line had 
been forced back before Hampton's arrival, 
and he died in the enemy's hands. He had 
been buried by them in a wooden coffin, and 
the grave carefully marked with his name and 
rank. His friends, under flag of truce, after 
that day's fighting was over, requested that the 
body be returned to them. It was accordingly 
exhumed and brought back to them under flag 
of truce. All this was considerately and kindly 
done, and it is therefore pleasant to record it. 

When Hampton returned to the south side 
of the James river the enemy had obtained a 
foot-hold on the Weldon railroad, their first step 
in severing that artery of supply for the Army 
of Northern Virginia. They held the road 




(275) 



HAMPTON AND HIS GA VALRY. 277 

from near Petersburg down to Reams station, 
from which latter point Hancock intended to 
destroy the road farther south. In moving 
down Butler's division to occupy the picket-line 
previously held in front of Reams station, the 
enemy was encountered at Monck's Neck 
bridge, about two miles west of the station, on 
Rowanty creek. Here, on August 23d, But- 
ler attacked the position with his invariable de- 
termination, and after a stiff fight drove the 
enemy, a division of infantry, into the cover of 
their works at Reams station, and established 
his picket-line, with a loss of twenty-one killed, 
one hundred and three wounded, and twelve 
missing. The movement was skillfully managed 
and gallantly carried out, and led to important 
results, as will be seen, for it suggested to 
Hampton the feasibility of capturing Reams 
station. A careful reconnoissance of the 
ground was made, and a plan of attack was 
submitted by Hampton to General Lee, of 



278 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

which the latter approved, and Lieutenant- 
General A. P. Hill, with Heth's division, was 
assigned to the work in connection with Hamp- 
ton. The cavalry consisted of W. H. F. Lee's 
division, Barringer just then commanding, and 
Butler's division. To the latter' s old brigade 
about this time General Dunovant had been 
assigned. General Rosser, though not entirely 
recovered from his wound received at Tre- 
vilian, was again conspicuously at the head of 
the " Laurel brigade." 

General Hill's infantry was quietly conducted 
by the cavalry through the country to Monck's 
Neck bridge, where a halt was made for the 
night, and the plan of attack agreed upon. The 
following is the account of the part taken by 
the cavalry in the action on August 25th : 

It was arranged that Hampton, with the 
main part of his force, should strike the left 
flank of the enemy on the Weldon railroad, 
and, with the rest, cover the approach of 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 279 

General Hill on Reams station. The proper 
dispositions having been made, Hampton 
crossed with the attacking force at Malone's 
bridge, and soon encountered the enemy's 
pickets, which were, by a mounted charge, driven 
in on his cavalry, which were then forced back 
out of a favorable position towards Reams sta- 
tion, but not until after a stiff dismounted fight. 
A section of McGregor's battery did fine execu- 
tion during this movement. The enemy was 
thus compelled to bring up infantry to replace 
his cavalry, and accordingly deployed a heavy 
force, endeavoring to envelop both of Hamp- 
ton's flanks, but this he was prevented from 
effecting. The troops instinctively followed the 
directions once given by General Butler to one 
of his colonels, who requested reinforcements 
on the ground of being flanked. Said he : 

" Well ! Flank them back, then ! " 

General Hill was now notified of the position 
of affairs, and it was suggested that he attack. 



280 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

This he said he would do, and requested Hamp- 
ton to move back his line somewhat, as if with- 
drawing, so as to induce the enemy to follow 
down the railroad, enabling him to take them 
in rear. This manoeuvre Hampton executed, 
retiring about 400 yards, but the Federals 
followed with very great caution. At five 
o'clock P. M. General Hill's artillery opened, 
thus announcing his advance, and General 
Hampton at once ordered forward his whole 
line, which was formed across the railroad on 
the west. The enemy was driven to his works 
at Reams station and some minor outworks 
taken. Finding that General Hill was pressing 
the Federals from the west into Reams station 
works, Hampton brought his line to the east 
side of the railroad, keeping his left flank on 
the road and swinging his right round so as to 
take the enemy engaged with Hill in rear. The 
ground to be traversed, very difficult naturally, 
had been further obstructed by felled trees and 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 281 

other impediments, but the cavalry, dismounted, 
pushed forward with a spirit entitling them to 
march shoulder to shoulder with the infantry of 
the Army of Northern Virginia, and there is no 
higher praise than this. When all of the enemy 
had been driven from the outerworks into the 
fortifications at Reams station, they made a 
still more stubborn fight. Previous to this, they 
would retreat from one minor point to make a 
stand at another, and so on back towards the 
main works. It was during this time that some 
of the men had much sport with a little " Dutch- 
man." This fellow was as fat as a beer-barrel, 
not much over five feet in height, with very 
short legs and pudgy body, and could hardly 
run, in spite of his best efforts, faster than a 
jog-trot. Each time, as he would be flushed 
out of a place with his comrades, he would 
work his little legs as best he could, moving his 
arms grotesquely like a windmill, blowing like 
a porpoise and perspiring in streams, but quite 



282 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALE T. 

unable to keep up with his better conditioned 
companions. It was such a laughable sight that 
the men good-naturedly refrained from shooting 
him, but every time he was jumped would chaff 
him with jokes, and " Go it, Dutchy." Proba- 
bly he was one of the "cheap substitutes" of 
which Grant was about that time complaining 
to Stanton as sent him by the ' 'loyal" of the 
North ; often becoming " too willing prisoners," 
he said. 

The check received when the enemy occupied 
his main works was but of short duration, and 
with a yell which must have sent mortal terror 
to the heart of "little Dutchy," if still in the 
land of the living, the cavalry rushed across the 
breastworks ; the day was won. They then 
took charge of the trenches, and the infantry 
were relieved. The fighting had lasted for 
twelve hours. The cavalry captured 781 pris- 
oners, besides sixty-six badly wounded, and 
buried 143 dead. Their own losses were only 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 283 

sixteen killed and seventy-eight wounded, and 
no prisoners lost. They captured six caissons, 
very many small arms, and three flags, besides 
other property. Their loss was surprisingly small 
in proportion to the fire sustained, the shooting 
of the Federals being unusually wild, the bullets 
ranging very high, a sure sign of want of skill 
or nerve. It was a sin to waste so much good 
ammunition. Perhaps this was caused by the 
recent receipt of a shipment of food for gun- 
powder purchased abroad, of which the 'Tittle 
Dutchy " just described may have been a 
sample. The total captures of the combined 
cavalry and infantry amounted to 2,150 pris- 
oners, seven stand of colors, nine pieces of 
artillery, and 3, 1 50 small arms and stores. As 
Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill expressed it in 
writing of this engagement, "The sabre and 
the bayonet have shaken hands on the enemy's 
captured breastworks." 

This was an important operation. It is true 



284 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

that the Federals succeeded in effecting by per- 
severance and numbers a permanent lodgment 
on the Weldon railroad, thus severing that line 
of communication with the South, and com- 
pelling the Confederates later on to wagon 
from Stony Creek station. But in the fight of 
Reams station they received a serious dis- 
couraging set-back in their programme, and 
time was thus gained by Lee. Among the 
infantry engaged was General James Conner's 
brigade, of Wilcox's division, and it must have 
been pleasant to that gallant soldier and lovable 
gentleman to have literally " shaken hands on 
the enemy's captured breastworks" with his 
old preceptor in the art of war, for he had 
made his debut in the Hampton Legion at the 
first battle of Manassas (Bull Run). 

General Lee, in his report of this affair to 
the War Department, says : " One line of 
breastworks was carried by the cavalry under 
Hampton with great gallantry." 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 285 

Under date of August 26th General Lee 
writes to General Hampton as follows : 

" Your note has been received. I am very 
much gratified with the success of yesterday's 
operations. I wished you to be near there, 
because I feared that as Gregg was so much in 
the background in yesterday's operations he 
might be preparing for a raid on the Danville 
and Southside railroads. I wish you now to 
rest the two divisions as much as practicable, 
and to take such position as would enable you 
most speedily to intercept and punish any 
party which they might send out against our 
communications." 

In writing to Governor Vance, of North 
Carolina, about this battle, General Lee says 
that the men "advanced through a thick 
abatis of felled trees under a heavy fire of 
musketry and artillery and carried the enemy's 
works with a steady courage, which elicited 
the warm commendations of their corps and 



286 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

division commanders and the admiration of the 
army," and adds : "The operations of the cav- 
alry were not less distinguished for boldness 
and efficiency than those of the infantry." 

It was General Hancock who commanded 
the Federals this day, and the mortification felt 
at the result by that brave, proud soldier was 
intense. It is reported by his friends that he 
said on the field he would rather have died 
than have witnessed his corps in such a rout. 



CHAPTER IX. 



THE CATTLE-RAID THE SCOUTS. 



EAR Coggin's Point, on the James 
river, less than five miles east of 
City Point and opposite to West- 
over, was a large herd of cattle belonging to 
the Army of the Potomac. From information 
obtained by trusty scouts Hampton ascertained 
the exact location of these beeves and the dis- 
position of the Federal troops in the vicinity, 
and decided that he could capture the herd. To 
accomplish this it would be necessary to make 
an incursion in the rear of the Federal army, 
and to within almost rifle-shot of City Point. 
Now, City Point was the headquarters and base 
of the Army of the Potomac. Here, General 

,(287) 




288 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

Grant and his military family were " at home " 
to visitors, but did not look for a call from 
Hampton. It was supposed to be as safe 
as Washington. The good people at Boston 
would have been no more surprised by a raid 
made to carry away Plymouth Rock than was 
the Federal army by the rummaging of their 
larder under the very nose of headquarters. It 
was no wonder that their nerves were badly 
shaken, and this they certainly were. The 
unexpected had happened to them. 

On the morning of September 14th Hamp- 
ton moved out upon the expedition from his 
position south of Petersburg. He took with 
him W. H. F. Lee's division, Rosser's and 
D earing' s brigades, and 100 men from Young's 
and Dunovant's brigades. Proceeding south- 
easterly down the west side of Rowanty creek 
on a swift march, he bivouacked quietly for the 
night at Wilkinson's bridge, and, making an 
early start next morning, bearing nearly north, 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 289 

reached during the day Cook's bridge on the 
Blackwater river. This detour brought him 
round the left flank of the Federals, nearly due 
south of Coggin's Point, and only about ten 
miles from where he intended to break through 
their picket-guards. The bridge at this point 
had been destroyed, as he was aware, and he 
selected the place for crossing the river for this 
reason, as he would not be looked for from that 
direction. In a few hours a temporary bridge 
was constructed by the engineers, the horses 
meantime rested and fed, and by midnight the 
river was crossed and the march resumed. 
North of the Blackwater about nine miles, near 
Sycamore church, was the largest detachment of 
the enemy nearest to the herd of cattle, which 
was about two miles farther on. To the right 
and left of this point were smaller bodies of Fed- 
erals. So Hampton determined to attack the 
largest force first and scatter it, and head off the 
smaller detachments, thus preventing concen- 

19 



290 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

tration. To Rosser was accordingly assigned 
the central attack, after accomplishing which he 
was to proceed to appropriate and carry away 
the prospective beefsteaks. To W. H. F. 
Lee's division was entrusted the task of driv- 
ing away the force to the left, and holding the 
roads leading from City Point from which inter- 
ference was to be expected. Dearing was to 
place his brigade on the right of Sycamore 
church, and when he heard the firing there, was 
to dash into and demolish a post about three 
miles from Fort Powhatan, on the James river, 
and hold the roads leading to the fort to pre- 
vent attack from that quarter. At five o'clock 
A. M., Rosser attacked. The videttes were 
driven in, but the main body, a regiment, the 
First District of Columbia cavalry, rallied be- 
hind barricades in very good style. However, 
Rosser lost no time, but made short work of 
them, annihilating the regiment, all not killed, 
wounded, or captured making off in every 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 291 

direction, spreading consternation throughout 
the neighborhood and exaggerated accounts of 
the numbers of the raiders. As soon as W. H. 
F. Lee's and Bearing's people heard the firing, 
they commenced their part of the programme, 
dispersing or riding down everything they met. 
They then held the roads, as directed, thus pre- 
venting assistance being sent to the central 
post, and drove away or took all the couriers 
whom they could lay hands on. Rosser sent 
forward a detachment to secure the cattle, 
which they quickly did, overpowering the guard 
of 1 20 men and the herdsmen. Many horses 
were also taken, eleven wagons, three flags, and 
the beeves, numbering 2,468. Three camps 
were burned, a considerable quanity of valu- 
able stores and blankets carried off, and more 
destroyed. All this was no easy matter, but it 
was thoroughly done in a business-like manner, 
without undue haste yet without loss of time. 
Everything had been well arranged beforehand, 



292 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALBY. 

and was carried out without a mistake. The 
troopers became for the occasion amateur cow- 
boys, and good ones, too. The cavalry, the 
army's maid of all work, filling the gaps in the 
military household, were one day storming a 
battery through abatis and brush, and another 
driving oxen. The Federal herders of the 
cattle proved very useful, and served their new 
masters as well and apparently as readily as 
if these had been their original employers. 
When the oxen would become troublesome, 
showing an inclination to stray into the fields 
and make delay, the herders, cracking their 
long lashes, sounding like pistol-shots, would 
quickly bring them back, though it must be 
confessed a trooper always rode alongside 
with a handy weapon to insure loyalty. But 
everything ran smoothly, and the sight would 
have gladdened the heart of a Highland chief- 
tain of the olden time, but his best "lift" would 
have been insignificant compared to this. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 293 

Such a mass of cattle kept together would 
have been unwieldy, perhaps impracticable to 
manage, but by breaking them up into detach- 
ments, with intervals between each, this diffi- 
culty was avoided. Completely successful in 
executing his plans, Hampton commenced to 
withdraw by 8 o'clock A. M. 

While all this was going on in most cheerful 
manner for the raiders, the greatest consterna- 
tion and bewilderment were prevailing at Fed- 
eral headquarters. By prearrangement with 
General Lee, at the hour at which Hampton 
attacked, a demonstration to distract attention 
was made along a part of the line of the army, 
the infantry driving the enemy's pickets into 
the fortifications west of the Jerusalem plank- 
road, and bodies of troops were moved about, 
as if for a general attack. At the same time 
Butler, with his cavalry division, began to make 
himself very disagreeable to the troops in his 
vicinity. It seemed from all this as if General 



294 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 

Lee was going on the war-path in earnest, and 
that Hampton's cavalry raid was intended only 
to distract attention from this, whilst in fact just 
the reverse was true. 

So, Federal headquarters made the wires hot 
with telegrams, and couriers were sent gallop- 
ing for dear life with despatches. Meade's 
"household troops" were kept very busy that 
day. General Grant was temporarily absent 
at Harper's Ferry consulting with Sheridan, 
then in the Shenandoah Valley, but he had a 
very unpleasant quarter of an hour, and several 
of them, on receipt of excited telegrams from 
Meade and from his chief of staff, Humphreys. 
And poor Kautz, such of his cavalry as had 
been met by Hampton having been demolished 
and sent scurrying in all directions, was sadly 
shattered in nerves, and worrying unlucky 
Meade with messages and queries, in the re- 
plies to which one can almost fancy he hears 
the General swearing. Many of these tele- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 295 

grams and despatches are preserved in the 
published records of the War Office. They are 
entertaining reading even at this late day, for 
being sent on the spur of the moment amidst 
all the excitement and exasperation, when there 
was no time to weigh words, they exhibit the 
true state of mind of the senders. Like spoken 
words stored hot in a phonograph, and now re- 
leased, they seem very different from official 
despatches prepared carefully after all the hurly- 
burly is past and blood is cool. Meade evi- 
dently believed Lee was advancing in force, 
and was much worried at the absence of Grant 
at such a trying time, involving so great re- 
sponsibility. Kautz sends a message that he 
has information Hampton's force is 14,000 (!) 
strong. Sharpe, deputy provost-marshal, says 
it is Hampton's entire cavalry corps. " Trusty 
citizens" report an immense force. Meade 
estimates 6,000. Humphreys, chief of staff, in- 
forms Kautz that he can reinforce him with a 



296 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALM T. 

division of infantry and a battery of artillery, 
but by that time the bird is flown. Sharpe and 
the rest fear the capture and destruction of all 
the immense stores at and around City Point, 
and put their heads together to arrange to have 
gun boats rushed up to cover City Point with 
artillery. The alarm really became almost pa- 
thetic. 

But Hampton pursued the even tenor of his 
way. Having procured nice beefsteaks at a 
convenient market without the trouble of pay- 
ment, he intended to take them safely home to 
cook. He retired towards the Blackwater 
river, and before reaching the stream had re- 
united all the portions of his command and then 
quietly crossed. Rosser was sent forward from 
there to hold the Jerusalem plank-road at a 
point about thirteen miles south of Petersburg 
and east of the Weldon railroad. Here he was 
attacked by Gregg and Kautz with their cavalry, 
but easily repelled them. So he held the road, 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALB T. 2i 9 

and the cattle were sent two miles in the rear 
to the south, and were safely got across the 
Nottoway river at Freeman's ford, and all 
brought "home." When Hampton had made 
sure that the cattle and other spoil were safely 
out of reach of recapture, he turned his atten- 
tion to cutting off a goodly portion of the Fed- 
eral cavalry, but by the time he had made dis- 
positions to get in their rear for this purpose, it 
was found they had retreated, and this plan 
was therefore abandoned. So, weary but jolly, 
his men returned to the bivouac on Rowanty 
creek. That night, and for many a day after- 
wards, there were plenty of sardines and other 
canned food, pickles, and many things esteemed 
luxuries by poor fellows who had eaten nothing 
but bacon and flour, and too little of them, for 
months past. These were picked up by the 
men in the burned camps, the regularly cap- 
tured property being turned over to the proper 
authorities. They had marched 100 miles in 



300 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

three days. The prisoners captured amounted 
to 304, and Hampton's losses to 10 killed, 47 
wounded, and 4 missing. 

In writing to General Grant after the affair 
is over, and the beeves irrevocably lost, Meade 
is evidently still very much disconcerted. He 
has discovered, by that time, it was only a cat- 
tle-raid, and not part of a general attack, and 
gives the best excuse he can think of for the 
loss, with " tears in his voice." He attributes 
Hampton's success and safe withdrawal to his 
force being 6,000 men, and he says his own 
troops were only 3,000 cavalry and 3,000 im 
fantry available, but in fact, to arrive at this 
estimate of 6,000 for the Confederates, he has 
used the multiple two. The estimates greatly 
and drolly varied: from Kautz, 14,000 (!); from 
Major Van Rensalaer, 5,000; Humphreys says 
three brigades of cavalry ; Sharpe, the whole 
cavalry corps, and so on. Grant in a despatch 
to Meade calls the captures "a rich haul," and 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALRY. 301 

so they were. Those 2,468 beeves were a 
Godsend to the army — " Hampton's steaks," 
as they were termed — and thriftily used lasted 
for many a week. They were fine, large oxen. 

It is amusing to discover now, from the tell- 
tale despatches preserved, how nervous during 
the rest of the campaign the troops were who 
guarded the lines near City Point, especially in 
the vicinity of Sycamore church, where Hamp- 
ton had broken through. They were always 
hearing strange noises at night, suggested by 
former unpleasant experiences : sometimes it 
would be phantom bridge-builders spanning 
the Blackwater ; at others, the tramp in the 
dark of ghostly horses and the clatter of 
sabres. Altogether they had a very trying 
time of it, like children in bed in the dark, and 
their officers were greatly disgusted by some 
prompt retreats of their men from imaginary 
onslaughts, and were thus betrayed into using 
naughty words. 



302 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

On General Hampton's return to his quar- 
ters he received a note from General Lee, in 
which he writes : 

" I have received your report of the result of 
your operations, and beg to express my high 
appreciation of the skill and boldness you have 
displayed, and my gratification at your hand- 
some and valuable success. You will please 
convey to the officers and men of your com- 
mand my thanks for the courage and energy 
with which they have executed your orders, by 
which they have added another to the list of 
important services rendered by the cavalry 
during the present campaign." 

The information about the herd of beeves, 
upon which the expedition for its capture was 
arranged, was obtained from Sergeant Shad- 
bourne, of the Jeff. Davis Legion, a scout. He 
accompanied Rosser's leading regiment as 
guide, and was foremost in the attack. Ser- 
geant Hogan, in charge of Butler's scouts, was 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 303 

also with the expedition, and did excellent ser- 
vice. One scout was killed and three wounded 
in the fighting. The scouts of the army did 
not constitute a distinct organization, but suit- 
able men volunteering for this duty were de- 
tailed from the different commands. The posi- 
tion required not only coolness, courage, zeal, 
and intelligence, but special faculties born in 
some few men. The letter of Shadbourne, 
giving the information about the cattle, is admi- 
rable for the purpose intended in matter and 
manner, and runs as follows : 

" Near Blackwater, Sept. 5, 1864. 
" General : 

"I have just returned from City Point. 
The defences are as follows : " 

Then are given with the greatest pre- 
cision the points at which troops are sta- 
tioned, their approximate numbers, where 
supplies are stored, and the exact distance 
between the places mentioned. 



304 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

" At Coggin's Point are 3,000 beeves, at- 
tended by 120 men and thirty citizens, with- 
out arms. At Sycamore church is one regi- 
ment of cavalry (1st District of Columbia). 
This is the nearest point of the picket line 
to Coggin's Point (about two miles). 

****** 

"The greatest danger, I think, would be 
on the Jerusalem plank-road in returning. 

****** 

" The Tenth corps is on the right (this side 
Appomattox); Ninth, centre; Fifth, next; 
Second, on extreme left. I hear that they 
have a Fifteenth corps, commanded by Ord. 
From best information Birney commands 
Tenth corps. This Fifteenth and Sixteenth 
corps are on the other side of Appomattox. 
Butler has just returned (yesterday) from 
convention [he refers to Ben. Butler coming 
back from a political gathering at the North 
anent the autumn elections]. It is thought 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 305 

more cavalry is about returning. Colonel 

is under arrest for drunkenness, I 

understand — Stratton in command. 

" Your obedient scout, 

" Shadbourne." 

The risks run by the scouts in collecting in- 
formation were of course numerous, but there 
was no doubt a great fascination in the freedom 
of the life and the adventures. There were 
other compensations, too. Picket duty and 
drudgeries were avoided, and then they were 
not confined to army rations — scant corn meal 
and scanter bacon — and though the land was 
very far from flowing in milk and honey, they 
knew where to find what little there was. The 
line of demarkation between a scout and a spy 
was sometimes very ill-defined, for as the scouts 
usually dressed in Federal uniforms which they 
had captured, they were by strict military law 
subject to the death-penalty as spies, if taken 
within the enemy's lines, and they were not 

20 



306 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

without unpleasant experiences of that kind. 
The following incident happening about this 
time is an example of some of the awkward 
scrapes into which they might get : 

Two Confederate scouts were within the 
Federal lines pursuing their occupation in the 
direction of City Point. They were dressed 
in blue overcoats and trousers, and not distin- 
guishable in appearance from Federals. The 
locality was one with which they were familiar, 
and near it, in a secluded spot, was a house 
well known to them, where lived a poor 
woman, who would often cook for them a meal 
and also give valuable information which she 
picked up. So, on this occasion, they concluded 
to call at the house for the double purpose men- 
tioned. She was a " truly loyal" woman, ac- 
cording to the belief of the Federals. Having 
fastened their horses in a place concealed from 
the observation of anyone happening to pass 
by, the two scouts walked quietly into the house 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 807 

according to their habit, when, to their surprise, 
in the kitchen, which served also the purposes of 
parlor and bed-room, there sat two men in blue 
uniform waiting for some food being prepared. 
It was too late to withdraw, so the new-comers 
spoke to the strangers in a friendly way, and 
conversation ensued while all were waiting for 
their meal. "Are they Federals, or Confed- 
erates in blue uniform?" The Confederates 
were thus "thinking hard," and so were the 
other two men. It was all very friendly in 
appearance, but each couple were fishing, as 
best they could, to find out what manner of 
men the others were. The scouts knew full 
well if these fellows proved to be Federals 
they must kill them, or be themselves killed ; 
surrender was not to be thought of, because, 
among other reasons, they would be liable to 
be shot as spies. The strangers, if Federals, 
on the other hand, would quite understand that 
this was exactly what the two men to whom 



308 HAMPTON AND EI8 CAVALRY. 

they were talking would be thinking of, pro- 
vided they were not friends, and therefore they 
were equally on the qui vive. So they all con- 
tinued to feel their way and watch each other 
closely, until the woman announced the meal 
to be ready, when the four sat down to- 
gether — two and two — on opposite sides of 
a rough board-table, and commenced to eat. 
Presently the woman walked behind the chairs 
of the strangers to pour out some coffee, and, 
as she filled their cups, unseen by them, gave 
a quick, warning glance across the table at the 
scouts. It was only a look, but it was quite 
enough. In the fraction of a second two re- 
volvers were pointed across the table, and the 
quick flashes blackened the faces and singed 
the beards of the poor fellows opposite as the 
bullets crushed through their heads. It was a 
ghastly business afterwards, for it was neces- 
sary to drag the bodies out and bury them 
behind an outhouse, where they would not be 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 309 

discovered, and thus bring the poor woman to 
trouble. 

There were two little boys, of ten or eleven 
years of age, who were said to be among the 
best scouts, or spies, in the army. When the 
hostile lines confronted each other closely at 
Petersburg, these urchins would come over 
every morning, ostensibly as newsboys, with 
Petersburg and Richmond papers. They were 
allowed to do this on signal, for the sake of 
obtaining the news, but they ran great risk 
from chance bullets and shells in going to and 
fro and through the trenches, where the men 
were, seeking customers. The pluck they 
showed makes that of a grown man seem small 
by comparison. They would keep their eyes 
and ears open, wandering around unnoticed 
in all sorts of places, as boys will, and thus 
picked up very valuable information. After 
awhile they were suspected, but nothing 
could be absolutely proved against them at 



i 
j 

i 



310 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 

that time, and, besides, even a Ben. Butler 
could hardly have found it in his heart to be 
very hard on such children, but they were the 
subject of not a little correspondence at head- 
quarters. 

The confidence which the regular scouts had 
in their ability to penetrate with impunity within 
the enemy's lines was wonderful. Their chief 
object was the obtaining of information, but 
they procured much besides this. If one hap- 
pened to have an acquaintance among them, 
and provided the gold or greenbacks for such 
a commission, he would find little difficulty in 
securing the equivalent in riding-boots or some 
other coveted article not purchasable within the 
Confederacy. Fredericksburg was a favorite 
place for such " shopping," as well as other 
towns much further north. City Point, too, 
was a "market," although it was Federal head- 
quarters. No doubt many a "loyal" sutler 
and attache of the quartermaster department 



HAMPTON AND EIS CA VALR T. 311 
there increased his income by such trading with 
anyone who would pay his prices, and was care- 
ful not to ask troublesome questions about the 
ultimate destination of the goods. Indeed, 
there were regular "underground" arrange- 
ments of this kind, worked on "purely business 
principles," and in these circumstances the 
purchaser would not be compelled to run much 
risk. The probability is, that the ramifications of 
these arrangements extended, for "shopping" 
and other quite different purposes, very much 
farther beyond the military lines than most 
people imagine, and would explain some things 
happening in those days that have been mys- 
terious to all except a few. 



CHAPTER X. 



ROSSER AND THE " LAUREL BRIGADE " DETACHED 

THE FIGHTING SOUTH OF THE JAMES DURING 

THE LAST DAYS OF SEPTEMBER BATTLE OF 

BURGESS MILL, OCTOBER 2 7TH FIVE FORKS AND 

LEE'S LETTER TO HAMPTON ABOUT THE RESULT. 

ATE in September, Rosser's brigade 
was detached and ordered to the 
Shenandoah Valley, leaving the cav- 
alry corps on September 27th. It was a part- 
ing of comrades tried and true. Their friend- 
ship, formed among common dangers and 
privations, was welded into brotherhood during 
the terrible month of daily fighting from the 
Wilderness to Cold Harbor. They parted with 
the old division never again to meet as soldiers 
on this side of the Great River on whose bank 

(312) 




HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 313 

the few survivors are all now halted : halted, 
but not for long, and may they all cross in as 
good style as did the gallant Rosser and his 
" Laural brigade" when on that September 
night of '64 they rode over the Blackwater to 
beard the lion in his den at City Point. 

Pursuing the purpose of relating only some 
of the marked events of the campaign, we pass 
over the daily skirmishing and picketing and 
come to the last days of September. At that 
time General Grant simultaneously renewed 
his operations to the north and the south of 
the James river. His principal object was to 
endeavor to push towards the left for the South- 
side railroad, hoping to gain ground in that 
direction, and then on the north side there was 
a possibility to surprise Richmond, or, at all 
events, a chance to make a diversion there. 
Such are the advantages of always having at 
one's disposal three or four soldiers to every 
one on the other side. Moreover, it was neces- 



314 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 

sary for political reasons to appear to be doing 
something, for at that period there was a deadly, 
weary feeling creeping over the North about 
the war. The premium on gold, the thermom- 
eter of public feeling, was going up by leaps 
and bounds. People were becoming shy of the 
''attrition" process. "Dulce et decorum est" 
etc., but then there is a limit to sentiment. 
Correspondence between Grant and the Fed- 
eral authorities shows great misgivings about 
the enforcement of the conscription, and also 
as to the quality of the new recruits being re- 
ceived, and keen dissatisfaction with the course 
of the Governor of Massachusetts and officials 
of some other States in buying cheap Southern 
negroes, as Grant expressed it, to fill their 
quotas. So a movement on both sides of the 
river must be made. On the north side Gen- 
eral Grant had Ben. Butler in command, probably 
the most incompetent of any of the " political 
generals " on either side, and that is saying 




(315T 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 317 

very much. To his enemies Butler was cruel, 
but for his friends he was worse, imbecile in a 
military sense, and no doubt to no one was he 
such a nuisance as to General Grant, who de- 
serves no little credit for tolerating him for 
policy, and at the same time practically shoot- 
ing over his head. If countless orders, pro- 
clamations, and despatches fulminated from a 
safe distance in the rear could destroy fortifica- 
tions and troops, there would not have been an 
earth-work standing or a soldier alive between 
the Potomac and the Rio Grande. So Ben. 
Butler commenced the movement with a gen- 
eral order of a kindergarten nature, several 
pages in length, explaining exactly how Rich- 
mond was to be taken, what was to be done 
after they got there, and promising double pay 
for six months to the men and promotion to 
officers of regiments, brigades, or divisions ar- 
riving there first, except to major-generals, to 
whom, as he considerately explains, no special 



318 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

bribe need be given to induce them to perform 
their duty, which was a back-handed compli- 
ment to the others, and disgusted them very 
much. However, a hare must needs be caught 
before it is cooked, and therefore we will con- 
cern ourselves no more about Ben. Butler's 
peculiar modes of warfare, for on the south side 
of the river real " business " is meant, for there 
are Meade, Hancock, and Warren, as well as 
Grant. 

On September 27th M. C. Butler's division 
on the Vaughn road, west of the Weldon rail- 
road, was attacked, but the enemy was driven 
back and the lines re-established and some 
prisoners taken. On the following day the 
enemy poured a strong force of infantry into 
the trenches temporarily occupied by Dearing's 
brigade, and captured the works. One of those 
incidents happened there which illustrates the 
strong individuality of the men. A private in 
Graham's battery of horse artillery was with 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 319 

his gun in a small work, which was carried by 
the enemy. As they flocked in they shouted 
to him to "surrender!" to which he paid no 
attention, but managed to get horses attached 
to the gun, and mounting one of the wheelers, 
commenced to move out. An officer rushed 
forward and attempted to run him through 
with his sword, but the artilleryman, armed 
only with a stick he had caught up, felled him 
to the ground, whipped up his horses, which 
the Federals endeavored to stop with bayonet 
thrusts, and clattered away in safety. The 
poor horses only were wounded. To an artil- 
leryman the gun he has helped to handle in a 
hundred fights is as dear as his own child. 

After consultation with General Heth it was 
determined to attack the enemy in the position 
he had attained, the infantry to strike in front, 
and Hampton on the left flank. In pursuance 
of this plan the cavalry were moved to a suit- 
able location, and meantime the infantry on 



320 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 

both sides became engaged. The enemy pro- 
ceeded to bring up reinforcements, and in doing 
this exposed their left flank, which movement 
was quickly taken advantage of by Hampton, 
who threw a force upon them, gallantly led by 
General W. H. F. Lee in person. The men 
dismounted, went forward in line of battle, firing 
no shots until within close range, and then pour- 
ing it in regularly, and advancing all the while. 
The enemy at this point was completely routed, 
and many cut off. About nine hundred prison- 
ers and ten flags were captured in this fight. 
McGregor with his horse artillery kept up with 
the line of battle in magnificent style, continu- 
ously firing, as he went forward, with great 
effect. It was a well-conducted and brilliant 
affair, and important, as it checked the further 
advance of the Federals in these movements 
south of the James, although it did not wrest 
from them the ground already gained. The 
"Army and Navy Gazette," of October 8, 1864, 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 321 

speaking of this engagement, says, showing 
what was thought at the time : 

" Whatever the objects of the demonstra- 
tions, they have evidently not yet attained suc- 
cess. The ' thin line ' which we are told that 
Warren found on the left on Friday appears to 
have been rapidly augmented. At all events 
the flanking column, which burst in between 
two divisions of our troops and swept off so 
many men, shows the enemy to have been in 
anything but desperate straits. To this new 
disaster (which resembles some previous ones 
on similar occasions) the check in the present 
phase of the campaign is due." 

On the next day, there was a considerable 
amount of successful fighting by the cavalry 
with the enemy's infantry and cavalry. It was 
deeply to be regretted, however, that in one of 
these charges General Dunovant went down, 
gallantly leading Butler's old brigade. As he 
fell, his foot caught in the stirrup and the body 



322 HAMPTON AND HIS GA VALE T. 

was dragged until the saddle turned and thus 
released the foot, but he was then quite dead. 
Dr. Fontaine, the medical director of the corps, 
hearing that he was wounded, galloped to the 
front to render prompt assistance, and had 
nearly reached him on the errand of mercy 
when, by the explosion of a shell, he himself 
was mortally wounded. Surely no man ever 
met a grander death, for he died for his fellow- 
man. Fontaine was very able professionally, 
but, more than that, he was a true man. On 
one occasion, some two or three so-called assist- 
ant surgeons (evaders of military service under 
this disguise) at a field hospital, became drunk, 
and one of them in particular was very insolent 
to wounded privates. Shortly afterwards Fon- 
taine arrived, and one indignant private in- 
formed him of the occurrence and requested 
redress. He investigated the matter at once, 
ordered the drunken offenders under arrest, 
and they were subsequently put into the ranks 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 323 

of the infantry. General Lee in a letter to 
General Hampton writes : 

" I grieve with you at the loss of General 
Dunovant and Dr. Fontaine — two officers 
whom it will be difficult to replace." 

This closed the serious fighting in this move- 
ment, the Federals having been unsuccessful in 
making further material progress in the direc- 
tion of the Southside railroad, but holding what 
ground they had obtained. 

After the termination of the operations just 
referred to, the cavalry was engaged in 
no important encounters until October 27th, 
though, in the meantime, there was much 
desultory skirmishing. The event occuring on 
October 27th, which is usually termed the 
battle of Burgess Mill, I propose to relate in 
some detail, because it was an important affair, 
and proved to be the last very serious attempt 
made by Grant during the campaign of 1864 
to turn Lee's right flank and seize the South- 



324 HAMPTON AND HIS GA VALBY. 

side railroad, to compel the evacuation of 
Petersburg. There is another reason, also, for 
dwelling more at length on this engagement, 
because the main features of this unsuccessful 
attempt are the same as those of the move- 
ment, five months later at Five Forks, which 
had a very different result. 

This battle was deliberately planned be- 
forehand, and was a sequence of preceding 
movements, and was specifically stated to be 
an attempt to seize the Southside railroad. As 
the Petersburg fortifications could not be taken 
by approaches nor assault, and Ben. Butler 
could produce no effect on Richmond on the 
north side of the river, there was no alterna- 
tive but to extend the Federal lines round to 
the left (west) until a permanent lodgment 
could be made on the Southside railroad, and, 
if this could be effected, Petersburg and, as a 
consequence, Richmond would no longer be 
tenable. It required no military sagacity to 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VA LB Y. 325 

perceive this, but the difficulty was to effect it, 
for Lee stubbornly barred the way. 

General Grant, during September, had been 
urging Stanton to send him at least forty thou- 
sand more recruits for his Virginia armies, and 
these had been gradually received. They came 
from all races and climes — from the woolly- 
headed African to the German with flaxen 
locks. By November bad weather and bad 
roads might increase the difficulty of forward 
movements. Moreover, on November 5th 
would occur the Presidential and Congressional 
elections at the North, which would determine 
whether the existing or a different political and 
military policy would be pursued. The masses 
were heartily tired of the war, and almost every 
one was dissatisfied with the lack of visible suc- 
cess in the military operations. It would be very 
desirable, therefore, to gain a great victory, be- 
cause of its favorable effect on the elections, 
and even an important movement, if not a 



326 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR 7. 

crushing disaster, could be represented as a vic- 
tory, and would be better than inaction. So, 
for every reason, the commanding general was 
urged to fight before November, and to fight 
he therefore determined. 

Preparations for the contemplated action 
having been made, orders were issued to por- 
tions of the command to move out by half-past 
two A. M. on October 27th, and other bodies 
were to march at later hours, depending upon 
their position, so that the advance would 
encounter their enemy at the desired point by the 
first daylight. All the force that could be pos- 
sibly spared from the fortifications was ordered 
out. In fact, there was some raking and scraping 
done, though one would think that without this 
the numbers were all-sufficient. The forces 
consisted of all of the Second, Fifth, and Ninth 
corps not left in the trenches, and Gregg's divis- 
ion of cavalry, the latter numbering five thou- 
sand four hundred and seventy-one strong after 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALBT. 327 

the battle, making the total force about forty 
thousand men. They were provided with four 
days' rations, showing the intention to hold 
what it was hoped to gain. Ben. Butler at the 
same time was ordered to make a strong diver- 
sion on the north side of the river to draw 
troops from Lee, which he proceeded to do 
with his customary fuss, anticipating as usual 
the capture of Richmond. 

The Federal force executed well the move- 
ment out, and proceeded to follow the orders 
given. The Second (Hancock's) corps occu- 
pied the left, marching down the Vaughn road 
to Hatcher's run, the extreme right of the Con- 
federate line, and in connection with this 
corps was Gregg's cavalry division. Their 
task was to turn and extend round Lee's right, 
which, successfully executed and held, meant 
the seizing of the Southside railroad, and, con- 
sequently, the enforced evacuation of Peters- 
burg and Richmond. This is easily understood 

/ 

mm ■'■% V.'.- 



328 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALRT. 

by a glance at a map. The movement would, 
if consummated, have been an anticipation of 
Five Forks. The other two corps were on the 
right of Hancock's, and confronted more or 
less fortified parts of the Confederate line. 
These latter accomplished nothing of any con- 
sequence, and were not heavily engaged. It 
is only therefore with Hancock's corps and the 
cavalry of Gregg that we are much interested. 

Grant's plan of attack was based on the belief 
that Lee's extreme right, on Hatcher's run, was 
not fortified strongly, in which he was correctly 
informed. The difficulty with Lee was to ex- 
tend his line so far with the comparatively 
small force he had. His was " the slender line 
of gray." But Grant was not correct as to the 
strength of the lines which his corps on the 
right were to attack, as was demonstrated to 
him by the result. 

By daylight on the morning of the 27th 
Hampton's pickets were driven in all along his 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 329 

line, from Armstrong's mill, on Hatcher's run, 
to Monck's Neck bridge, on his extreme right, 
a distance of about two miles. It was promptly 
done, and the camps behind were obliged to 
get into saddle without attending to the nice- 
ties of the toilette, or to breakfast, which was 
postponed by unanimous consent until about 
eight o'clock that evening. Some dismounted 
men, who were in camp, always as wretched as 
fish out of water, were forced, much against 
their will, to move in undignified haste, swear- 
ing like orthodox troopers, amid much pleasant 
chaff from their more fortunate comrades 
on horseback. Hancock's infantry crossed 
Hatcher's run at the Vaughn road and Arm- 
strong's mill, and Gregg's cavalry at Monck's 
Neck bridge, two miles farther south, at the 
junction of Hatcher's run and Gravely's run. 
Butler reinforced his pickets and soon became 
quite heavily engaged with the infantry ad- 
vancing towards the Boydton plank-road and 



330 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBT. 

the Quaker road. Meantime, Hampton appre- 
hended that if the gap between Butler's left 
and Hatcher's run was not filled, the Federal 
infantry would proceed up the run towards 
Burgess mill, two and a half miles farther up, 
where the Boydton plank-road crosses that 
stream. He therefore sent Venable, of his staff, 
to order Bearing's brigade, then in the works 
on the north side of the run, to fill up this gap. 
General A. P. Hill, commanding, did not think 
Bearing's brigade could well be spared from 
the works, and sent back a message to Hamp- 
ton to that effect by Venable, but on returning, 
the latter was captured by the enemy, and 
therefore Hampton did not receive this com- 
munication, and remained under the impression 
that Bearing's brigade would fill the gap. This 
left the way open along the run to the crossing 
by the Boydton road, and Hancock accordingly 
proceeded up the stream to that point and at- 
tacked there. Meantime, finding that the enemy 



t 



(331) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 333 

was advancing from the Vaughn road down the 
Quaker road towards its junction with the Boyd- 
ton road near the run, Hampton took position 
at the Quaker meeting-house and checked him, 
and General W. H. F. Lee was ordered to 
move up the Military road so as to strike him 
in the rear. But at this juncture it was dis- 
covered that Hancock had passed up the gap 
mentioned, to the Boydton road, thus getting in 
Hampton's rear, and his cavalry was perceived 
going down the White Oak road, which leads 
to Five Forks, distant somewhat less than five 
miles from the Boydton road. To counteract 
this, Butler, withdrawing from the Quaker meet- 
ing-house, faced about and went galloping over 
to the White Oak road to check the advance in 
that direction, a small portion of his force being 
left to engage the enemy on the Boydton road 
near Wilson's. The Federals were encountered 
on the White Oak road and stopped, Butler's 
line extending on both sides of the road with 



334 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 

its left on Burgess mill-pond. W. H. F. Lee 
was ordered to bring his division to the Boyd- 
ton road and attack there, which he did with 
great spirit. Up to this time, about four o'clock 
P. M., the cavalry alone was covering the right 
flank of the army from Hancock's infantry and 
Gregg's cavalry. Now General Heth, of Hill's 
command, was communicated with, and it was 
decided to cross the infantry over the run and 
make an attack in concert with Hampton. As 
soon as the musketry announced the infantry 
engaged, Butler charged, with his whole line 
dismounted, across an open field and drove the 
enemy rapidly towards the Boydton road. 
Simultaneously W. H. F. Lee advanced down 
the Boydton road, his left uniting with Butler's 
right. The enemy was enveloped on three 
sides from a point on the Quaker road to Bur- 
gess mill-pond. Hancock was thus driven from 
his position on the roads and became massed 
in the fields east of the Boydton road, isolated 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 335 

from the support of the other corps, defeated. 
Lee's right flank was covered. As Butler's 
division swept forward to connect their right 
with W. H. F. Lee's left, Hampton being in- 
dividually in the front, Lieutenant William 
Preston Hampton, A. D. C. to his father, the 
General, was mortally wounded while gallantly 
charging with the division and cheering on the 
men, and his brother, Lieutenant Wade Hamp- 
ton, temporarily attached to the General's staff, 
was also disabled. Lieutenant-Colonel Jeffords 
also was killed when conspicuously at the head 
of his regiment, Fifth South Carolina, and 
Major Barker, A. A. G. of Butler's division, 
who at once took his place, quickly fell, 
wounded. 

The writer regrets that in describing these 
movements it is necessary to introduce to the 
reader so many names of localities and roads 
which may not be familiar to him, and of them- 
selves are dry details. This, however, is un- 



336 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

avoidable, if the true development of the battle 
is to be properly understood. The sketch-map 
of the topography, attached, will make the evo- 
lutions sufficiently clear at a glance. South of 
Hatcher's run the right flank of the army was, 
on that day up to about four o'clock P. M., pro- 
tected only by the Confederate cavalry from 
the Federal infantry and cavalry, as has been 
already stated. The importance of this need 
not be dwelt upon, for it is self-evident that the 
turning of this flank and a lodgment meant the 
gravest disaster, if not ruin. North of Hatcher's 
run, Dearing's brigade, dismounted in the 
trenches, and other dismounted cavalry, assisted 
the infantry to hold the works. In the attack, 
delivered at about four o'clock P. M., the cav- 
alry, as has been shown, had their full share, in 
conjunction with Heth's infantry, in finally de- 
feating Hancock. All of the fighting this day, 
of any importance, done by the cavalry, was 
performed dismounted, as infantry. In this 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 337 

engagement the principal features of the Fed- 
eral movements, and the resulting necessity of 
interposing between them and the strategical 
points covering or commanding the right flank 
of the Army of Northern Virginia, are so simi- 
lar to those of Five Forks as to furnish an in- 
teresting comparison in many respects. They 
give to the battle of Burgess Mill a special 
meaning, viewed in the vivid light of the tragic 
memories of Five Forks. 

The complete success of the charge last de- 
scribed relieved Mahone, on the north side of 
the run, from the fire of Hancock, to 
which, before this, he had been exposed, 
as well as to attack from the other side 
by the corps manoeuvring on Hancock's 
right, which was divided from the latter 
during the battle by a wide interval. 
Why this separation of these two corps, in- 
tended to act in concert, had been permitted, 
Was matter of controversy for a long time be- 



338 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

tween the commanders concerned, but that is a 
" family quarrel." It probably occurred through 
confusion in manoeuvring through ground of a 
very rough character, broken up by dense 
thickets, swampy places, and small runs. 
Troops will naturally in such places experience 
great risks of confusion and missing of direc- 
tion, especially if they are under fire at the 
time. We now see, from the published des- 
patches and reports on the Federal side, that 
the withdrawal of Butler's division from con- 
tact with Hancock's corps on the Quaker road, 
for the purpose of cutting off the troops on 
the White Oak road, was very naturally mis- 
understood by Hancock and Meade. It was 
believed by them to have been a repulse of 
infantry effected. The long Enfields of But- 
ler's command frequently misled the enemy as 
to the character of the troops. And then when, 
after its mission in regard to the force on the 
White Oak road had been accomplished, But- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 339 

ler's division rushed in upon Hancock, this 
appearance of " troops coming out of the 
woods" on his flank and rear, as the Federal 
commander expressed it, was supposed to be a 
new attack of fresh infantry. The success of 
this charge convinced Hancock of his inability 
to place himself in rear of the Confederate 
lines, or to make and maintain connection with 
the Federal corps operating on his right. He 
therefore decided to retreat lest he should be 
entirely cut off the next day. This withdrawal 
was accordingly commenced soon after dark, 
the dead and badly wounded being left behind. 
Hampton's last movement had been completed 
just as a dark night set in, accompanied by a 
cold autumn rain. This prevented observation 
of the enemy's retreat. Meantime the Confed- 
erate cavalry line was maintained in its position 
with the intention of resuming the attack in the 
morning. Mounted videttes were thrown out 
and the dismounted men rested where they 



340 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBT. 

were, and took the exceedingly frugal break 
fast which had been postponed from the morn- 
ing. It was not, in fact, a very agreeable meal, 
in spite of hunger, for the fighting having gone 
on until darkness settled down, the dead and 
many of the wounded necessarily remained 
where they fell, and the consciousness of the 
presence of sufferers, almost within touch, did 
not furnish an appetizing sauce for the much- 
needed food. Some non-combatants hold the 
theory, that wounded men left in the rain experi- 
ence relief by the coolness and moisture, but, 
believe me, this is a fallacy. The nervous sys- 
tem being to a greater or less extent prostrated 
from lack of food and deprivation of coffee, tea, 
or other stimulant, and the strength sapped by 
over-exertion, loss of blood, and suffering, there 
ensues a terrible physical chilliness, which 
creeps over you as the pitiless ram comes 
down, and you feel lonely, and abandoned by 
God and man, and dispute the wisdom of the 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 341 

scheme of creation by which it happened you 
were ever born. When assistance would at 
length come, all relief practicable was afforded, 
but that was too often little enough. The 
avowed system pursued by the Federal authori- 
ties was to capture or destroy, wherever found, 
and to exclude by blockade and as contraband 
of war, all surgical instruments, medicines, and 
hospital supplies pertaining to the Confederates, 
which was done for the purpose of increasing 
the mortality among their wounded and sick. 
This, and the non-exchange of prisoners of war, 
were parts of the "attrition" process. 

Throughout the day of battle, and especially 
on the plank-road, Chew's artillery did splendid 
execution. Hart's battery suffered severely in 
casualties, but kept up its good work to the 
end. Here, Captain Hart lost his leg, but had 
at least the comfort of knowing the sacrifice 
was made in no petty skirmish, but in an im- 
portant victory. This battery was, during the 



342 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

four consecutive years of the war, under fire — 
counting skirmishes and battles — on one hun- 
dred and forty-three distinct occasions. This 
statement is founded not on guess-work, but 
actual data. It has been asserted on good mili- 
tary authority that no other battery ever had 
such a record made during four consecutive 
years. A fair comprehension of what manner 
of men composed it may be gained by reading 
"The Burial of the Guns," by Nelson Page. 

During this fight privates in Butler's division 
fired over eighty rounds from their Enfield 
muzzle-loaders. They shot, not in volleys, but 
at will, and the next morning in going over the 
ground opposite to them it was seen they had 
not wasted their ammunition, for in some places 
the corpses were thickly strewn. The losses 
of the cavalry, however, in killed and wounded 
were very light in proportion to the fire sus- 
tained, and of prisoners they had almost none 
taken, but captured 239. The enemy's losses 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALRY. 343 

are set down in their official returns as 1,902, 
but, as previously remarked, returns do not 
always agree, for 1,365 prisoners were delivered 
in Richmond, and these were in addition to the 
killed and wounded, which were numerous. 
The Federal infantry, as a rule, shot very 
wildly, many of them no doubt being new re- 
cruits. Twigs and small branches cut down by 
bullets would be seen falling from the trees 
from a -height of thirty to sixty feet or more 
from the ground. Some prisoners taken were 
unable to understand a word spoken to them 
until addressed in German. A man, one of the 
many red-haired descendants of the ancient Irish 
kings, whose "be Jabers " is so familiar to our 
ears, was found next morning kneeling against 
a tree, apparently in the very act of firing his 
rifle, which was full-cocked at his shoulder. 
Turning to look more closely, it was discov- 
ered he was stiff and stark. Death must have 
been instantaneous, but the strange thing is, 



344 HAMPTON AND EI8 CAVALRY. 

that his body, instead of being convulsed by 
the last struggle, should have been, as it were, 
petrified in its final attitude, like a dog on the 
point. One other exactly similar case was 
noticed on another occasion after a battle, and 
that fellow, too, was an Irishman. 

Mention has been made that Preston Hamp- 
ton fell mortally wounded while leading with 
distinguished gallantry in the last charge. He 
was a most lovable boy in disposition, gentle 
and attractive in manner, generous in word and 
deed, manly and strong in physique, and brave 
to a fault ; sure to be dearly , loved by a parent, 
and to have a very warm place in the hearts of 
comrades. Leaving college when only seven^ 
teen years of age, he had joined the first troops 
called for by his State, and was present at the 
reduction of Fort Sumter. Immediately after 
that he joined, as private, one of the cavalry 
companies of the Hampton Legion and went 
with that command to Virginia. Afterwards 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 345 

he was detailed as orderly at headquarters, and 
thus saw the service performed by the infantry 
of the Legion, including the battle of Seven 
Pines and the "Seven Days' Battles Around 
Richmond." On his father's transfer to the 
cavalry he accompanied him, and was in all the 
fights in which the brigade was engaged. After 
a time he was appointed aide-de-camp on Gen- 
eral Hampton's staff, where he served con- 
tinuously until his death. He showed not only 
brilliant daring, but also the nerve and cool 
judgment in danger that mark the true soldier. 
He had been wounded on two previous occa- 
sions, and on others had had horses shot under 
him, and now he was to meet his death in the full 
flush of victory in one of the finest charges of 
the war. His father, always in the front, had 
been near at hand when his son fell from his 
horse, and for a moment dismounted, and, bend- 
ing down over the dying boy, tenderly kissed 
his forehead, and then gently whispered to him 



346 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR Y. 

some words not heard by others amidst the din 
of battle. After hastily giving directions for 
his removal, together with his other son, who 
was also wounded, but not so seriously, he re, 
mounted and rode forward with the advancing 
line. Such was a commander's duty, but it 
was a hard one to perform. 

It seems from correspondence to which there 
is now access that General Grant, in company 
with Meade, crossed the run during the day 
and rode down to near where Hancock was 
engaged. Meade afterwards remarks, in a 
communication to Grant, that if they had pro- 
ceeded farther on a certain road referred to, 
they would have come, as it turned out, upon 
the enemy. They little knew the danger they 
were encountering, for the opposing lines were 
so frequently changed in position during dif- 
ferent times that day — what was the front or 
flank at one period being the rear at another, 
or vice versa — that it would not have been 



Father and son. 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 349 

strange if they in their wanderings had been 
picked up as prisoners, and in this case the 
history of our planet, at least of this part of it, 
might have been very different. General Grant 
returned to City Point in the evening. That 
firm face was grave and anxious, as he smoked 
his cigar, we may be sure. How much 
longer would his murmuring people endure the 
losses? What if Hancock's list of dead and 
wounded reaches ten or fifteen thousand to-day, 
and the voters of the North next month elect 
McClellan as President? How much longer 
will the thread suspending the sword over his. 
head sustain this continued " attrition?" 

The Federals, as has been stated, retreated 
during the night. In the morning they were 
pursued by the cavalry and harassed until they 
reached their fortifications. They left behind 
them, besides dead and wounded, several cais- 
sons and many small arms and accoutrements. 

Lest there should be any misapprehension of 



350 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

facts, we will quote here portions of a corre- 
spondence between General Lee and General 
Hampton, which explains itself. 

On October 29, 1864, General Hampton 
wrote to General Lee as follows : 

"A paragraph in your official report leads 
me to suppose that you are under a misappre- 
hension in reference to the movements of 
the enemy on 27th inst. Your report says 
that ' the enemy crossed Rowanty creek be- 
low Burgess mill and forced back the cav- 
alry in the afternoon.' To correct this mis- 
apprehension I will give a brief statement 
of what occurred in anticipation of my 
report." 

Then follows an account of the movement, 
the same in effect as that contained in his 
official report. General Lee replies on Octo- 
ber 31, 1864 : 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 351 

" I have received your letter of 29th inst., 
recounting the movements of the enemy 
on the 27th. 

" My report to the Secretary of War was 
formed from the telegraphic despatch from 
General Hill. From the lines you quote I 
perceive there is an error in punctuation. 
The stop should have been after ' cavalry.' 
I intended by the use of the latter word to 
designate only that portion as being driven 
back which was opposed to the advance of 
the enemy at the creek, but I did not wish 
to particularize, as I did not desire the 
enemy to know what force was on our ex- 
treme right. 

****** 
" In a letter to General Hill to-day, I ex- 
pressed my gratification at the conduct of 
the troops in general, and of the cavalry in 
particular, desiring him to communicate my 
thanks to you and your command." 

As it throws light upon the • dispositions 



352 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 

during the engagement of October 27th, and 
also upon the nature of the defences on the 
extreme right of the Confederates at a later 
date, we will now quote the following extract 
from a letter of October 24, 1864, to General 
Lee from General Hampton : 

" There have been no operations of my 
command lately which required a report, 
and I have been engaged in assisting the 
infantry in completing a new line of works, 
which extends to Hatcher's run. This work 
is now finished, and the disposition of my 
troops is as follows : Seven hundred men 
are in the trenches, their right resting on 
the creek, about one and a half miles above 
Armstrong's mill. Butler occupies the line 
from the latter point to Monck's Neck 
bridge, and Lee extends to the Halifax 
road. I have erected five dams in the creek, 
covering them with works on the south 
bank. These works and the dams will ren- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

der this line very secure. Dearing is at 
Burgess mill, and he has orders, in case the 
enemy advances, to place his whole com- 
mand at once in the trenches on the right of 
the infantry. To-day General Hill rode 
over the lines with me, and I proposed to him 
that he should hold them to the creek with 
his infantry and artillery. If he can do this, 
and he says that he can if he can get one 
thousand or one thousand five hundred more 
men, I propose to place all my dismounted 
men, about eight hundred, on the south 
bank of the creek, holding that line. The 
cavalry can then all be concentrated in sup- 
porting distance, and, if the enemy attacks, I 
can throw a force of from three to four thou- 
sand men on his flank by crossing at one of 
my dams, keeping at the same time suffi- 
cient mounted troops to check any advance 
of the Federal cavalry. 

" If you can give General Hill men 

enough to return mine now in the trenches, 
23 



354 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

so as to enable me to carry out the plan sug- 
gested, I think that you need feel no uneasi- 
ness as to an attack on my right. 

" I have examined all the ground and feel 
sanguine of the success of such a move- 
ment as I have indicated. My command is 
growing stronger every day, and it is in 
good condition for a fight. Butler received 
two hundred and seventy-five horses to-day, 
and Lee can mount two thousand five hun- 
dred men. If my command can be concen- 
trated I shall be able to take upwards of five 
thousand men into action. We are using 
every effort not only to strengthen our line, 
but to augment our numbers." 

To this letter General Lee replied under date 
of October 26th, the day before the battle of 
Burgess Mill, as follows : 

" Your letter of the 24th is received. I 
am much pleased to hear of the improve- 
ment and increase of your command, and of 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALB Y. 355 

your confidence in the strength of your 
position. It would afford me great gratifi- 
cation if I could give General Hill the addi- 
tional infantry to enable him to return your 
troops, as you propose, as I can see that 
much benefit would result from it. But the 
difficulty is to get the men. I have written 
to him to say that the only source we have 
to depend upon is the conscription now 
going on. I hope he will be considerably 
strengthened by this means, and I have re- 
quested him to co-operate in your proposi- 
tion to the extent of his ability." 

On the following day the attack provided 
against by Hampton occurred, and, as has 
been seen from General Lee's letter, the addi- 
tional 1,000 to 1,500 troops desired could not 
be furnished to General Hill. It will also be 
noted that notwithstanding the inability to 
obtain this augmentation of the force the battle 
was decisively won. 



356 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

Ben. Butler, of course, accomplished nothing 
beyond much fussing on the north side of the 
James on October 27th, and the expedition 
carefully prepared, with a large force, to turn 
Lee's right was completely defeated, as we 
have seen. A better showing for the affair was 
attempted by the Federals at the North for the 
sake of the November elections, but it fell flat, 
as the facts were too patent ; the purpose of 
the attack had been avowed beforehand and 
was admitted in the official despatches, and it 
was clear to all that this purpose had not been 
attained, for the three corps and their cavalry 
returned to their starting point. Some of the 
northern newspapers ventilated the matter 
pretty thoroughly. Of course they got most 
of the details wrong, but the main thing, the re- 
sult, they could hardly miss. Two of the principal 
New York papers published accounts deemed 
particularly unjust to some of the higher officers 
concerned. War Secretary Stanton wished to 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 357 

have the correspondents in camp of these news- 
papers punished by court-martial, asserting that 
although citizens and not enlisted men they 
were subject to military law, and he intended 
to have them brought to Washington to be 
punished by a military commission. The of- 
fence, however, if any there was, had been com- 
mitted by the editors through publication in 
New York, and not within the lines of the 
army. General Hancock was one of the offi- 
cers thought to be unfairly represented by 
these correspondents, and he wished them 
merely sent out of camp, but, being a just and 
generous gentleman as well as a fine soldier, 
he would have nothing to do with the proceed- 
ings proposed, which he considered equally 
repugnant to fair play and to the laws of the 
land, and so Stanton dropped the matter. 

After the battle of Burgess Mill, there was 
no serious attempt made during that campaign 
by the Federal army to turn Lee's right flank, 



358 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

and thus gain possession of the Southside rail- 
road. About five months later occurred the 
battle of Five Forks, which is not a part of this 
narrative, dealing only with the campaign of 
1864. But a resemblance exists, except in re- 
sult, between Burgess Mill and Five Forks 
which challenges attention, as we have already 
said. The story of the latter is too well known 
to require repetition here. At that time Gen- 
eral Hampton was in North Carolina command- 
ing the cavalry with Johnston's army, and with 
him was Butler's division. The cavalry corps 
of the Army of Northern Virginia had consisted, 
in the autumn, of two divisions, Butler's and 
W. H. F. Lee's, and in the following spring 
was composed of the last-named division, to- 
gether with those of Fitz. Lee and Rosser, the 
latter having been made a major-general and 
assigned to a division while in the Shenandoah 
Valley, and a better officer there was not in the 
army. These three divisions, commanded by 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALBY. 359 

Fitzhugh Lee as senior major-general, numbered 
about 7,000 men, which was "nearly one-third 
more than had been available during the pre- 
vious autumn. Opposed to them were three 
divisions of Federal cavalry under Sheridan, 
aggregating 13,209 " present for duty " by the 
report of March 31, 1865. The disparity in 
numbers of about two to one in favor of the 
Federals was not necessarily daunting to the 
cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, for 
against equal and greater odds they had won 
many victories. The odds against Hampton 
at Trevilian, it will be remembered, were as 
two compared with one, and yet he beat his 
opponent in that cavalry duel, prevented him 
from accomplishing any of the purposes for 
which the expedition had been made, and finally 
forced him to regain his own army by a long 
detour. Had it not been for lack of co-opera- 
tion by one of Hampton's divisions in that fight 
he would probably have crushed and destroyed 



360 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 

Sheridan's entire force, as was the deliberate 
purpose of his" plan of battle. Five Forks 
was about a mile south of the nearest part of 
Hatcher's run and some four miles north and 
slightly west of Dinwiddie Courthouse, and its 
occupation by the enemy enabled him to con- 
trol the Southside railroad, which compelled the 
evacuation of Petersburg. Every one knows 
that these results were effected by the Federals, 
and that the immediate withdrawal from Rich- 
mond was a necessary consequence. The 
Confederates at the battle of Five Forks faced 
nearly in the direction of Dinwiddie, with 
Pickett's infantry in the centre, all of the cav- 
alry on the right, except one division, which was 
held in reserve on the other side (north) of 
Hatcher's run. The enemy's infantry (Warren) 
came up the run (westerly) unobserved, turned 
Pickett's flank, and, getting in his rear, doubled 
him up. If this position had been held, Lee's 
lines would have been intact, and he could have 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALR T. 361 

withdrawn from Petersburg quietly and formed 
a junction with Johnston's army, if he deemed 
it advisable to do so, or proceeded to more 
easily defensible positions elsewhere. Of very 
great interest in this connection is the follow- 
ing letter from General Lee to General Hamp- 
ton, written four months after the end of the 
war : 

" Near Cartersville, August I, 1865. 
My Dear General : 

" I was very much gratified at the 
reception of your letter of the 5th ultimo. 
I have been very anxious concerning you, 
and could obtain no satisfactory informa- 
tion. * * * You cannot regret as 
much as I did, that you were not with us at 
our final struggle. The absence of the 
troops which I had sent to North and 
South Carolina, was I believe, the cause of 
our immediate disaster. Our small force of 
cavalry [a large portion of the men who had 



362 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALE 7. 

been sent to the interior to winter their 
horses had not rejoined their regiments] 
was unable to resist the united cavalry 
under Sheridan, which obliged me to de- 
tach Pickett's division to Fitz. Lee's support, 
thereby weakening my main line, and yet 
not accomplishing my purpose. If you had 
been there with all of our cavalry, the re- 
sult at Five Forks would have been different. 
But how long the contest could have been 
prolonged, it is difficult to say. It is over, 
and though the present is depressing and 
disheartening, I trust the future may prove 
brighter. We must at least hope so, and 
each one do his part to make it so. * * * 
That every happiness may attend you and 
yours is the earnest prayer of 

Your friend, 

R. E. Lee." 



The parts of this letter omitted, indicated in 
the above by stars, are concerning matters 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 363 

which have no reference to the subjects spoken 
of in the quoted portion. 

The statement made by Lee, from whose 
ruling there is no appeal, is explicit : "If you 
had been there with all of our cavalry, the re- 
sult at Five Forks would have been different." 

As for the morale of the Confederate troops 
of all arms at this period, it was excellent in 
spite of all theories of exhaustion now in vogue 
to the contrary. Even after the disaster at 
Five Forks, the significance of which was as 
well understood by privates as by generals, the 
temper of the army remained firm and cou- 
rageous. All the evidence of eye-witnesses 
proves that the troops marched forth from 
Petersburg in high heart and absolute confi- 
dence that " Marse Robert will bring it out all 
right." Indeed, the release from the terrible 
confinement of the trenches produced an elation 
of spirits. The freshness of spring, the green 
fields, and budding trees and flowers, were in 



364 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

blessed contrast to the squalor and wretched- 
ness which they had been enduring all those 
weary months and were now leaving behind. 
And Lee, too, felt the influence of all this. It 
was said by all that he never looked more in- 
spiring, grander, or nobler than when, without 
thought of surrender, he rode at the head of 
those columns which would submit to no defeat. 
It was not until the army, bearing up with un- 
complaining pluck against hunger, reached 
Amelia Courthouse, where ample rations had 
been ordered to be provided, that Lee's face, 
for the first and last time ever known, became 
for a moment ghastly pale. For the traitors, 
or imbeciles of a department always the worst, 
had failed to obey orders, although the means of 
doing so were in their hands, and no food was 
available. By that crime, through starvation, 
not by arms and numbers, was the fate of the 
Army of Northern Virginia sealed. Otherwise 
they could still have gained the slopes of the 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 365 

Blue Ridge, and behind those impregnable 
ramparts constructed by the Almighty, have 
maintained their organization and prestige in- 
tact, and become daily stronger in numbers 
from recruits. That such a movement should 
have been made months before this, was Gen- 
eral Lee's decided opinion, as is now well known, 
but it was overruled by the Richmond authori- 
ties for political reasons. At an earlier period 
such a withdrawal could have been easily 
effected and the war prolonged indefinitely. 
This was Lee's opinion. He said even at the 
last : " With my army in the mountains of Vir- 
ginia, I could carry on this war for twenty years 
longer." This may at some time prove an 
opinion worth remembering, if in the future 
foreign wars in which we shall be involved 
our coast cities should be seized by hostile 
fleets, or armies of overpowering strength. 
Loud clamors would then no doubt arise from 
the timid for peace at any price, coming, per- 



366 HAMPTON AND EI8 CAVALRY. 

haps, from the same mouths noisiest in cheers 
for easily gained victories over weak foes. But 
in spite of all vociferations to the contrary, we 
can still maintain ourselves by force of arms, 
if we are willing to endure privations, to fight 
stoutly under good discipline, to die, if our 
turn comes, among the inland fastnesses which 
the rivers and mountains of our land have pro- 
vided. As early as October 4, 1864, General 
Lee wrote to Mr. Seddon, Secretary of War, 
as follows : 

" I beg leave to inquire whether there is 
any prospect of my obtaining any increase 
to this army. If not, it will be very difficult 
for us to maintain ourselves. The enemy's 
numerical superiority enables him to hold 
his lines with an adequate force, and extend 
on each flank with numbers so much greater 
than ours, that we can only meet his corps, 
increased by recent recruits, with a division 
reduced by long and arduous service. We 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALMT 367 

cannot fight to advantage with such odds, 
and there is the gravest reason to apprehend 
the result of every encounter." 

If this warning had been heeded, a timely 
withdrawal could have been effected. 



CHAPTER XI. 



CAMP CORRESPONDENCE STONY C R E E K MILES 

TRIES TO ATTACK THE RIGHT FLANK WARREN'S 

RAID ON THE WELDON RAILROAD END OF THE 

CAMPAIGN OF '64 HAMPTON ORDERED TO 

SOUTH CAROLINA — MORALE OF BUTLER'S DIVIS- 
ION CAPTURE OF KILPATRICK'S CAMP THE 

LONE DAMSEL BUTLER'S CHARGE "BUCKLAND 

RACES" THE CHALLENGE. 

NOVEMBER came in quietly, almost 
peacefully, for the cavalry, the only 
interruption being the inevitable 
picketing and petty skirmishes. On the north 
side of the James, Ben. Butler no longer let 
loose and whistled up his trusty dogs of war 1 
for an original, duly patented coup de main on 
Richmond. By Stanton's selection he was ap- 

(368) 




HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 369 

pointed for the time being election standard- 
bearer, and headed a column of some ten 
thousand soldiers of all arms (''preferably 
Western troops," as General Grant recom- 
mended), and northward, not southward, they 
marched, the objective point New York, there 
to see to the election to be held on November 
5th, a sort of mission which was to his taste, 
and well accomplished. 

On the south side of the river Gregg's cav- 
alry were inactive. The commanding general 
said they were too weak in numbers to attempt 
enterprises of moment, but by the November 
returns of " men present for duty," this division 
alone was credited with 6, 189 sabres, more than 
Hampton's entire force. 

Later in November, Grant was contemplating 
an attack on Lee's lines on the right, but 
thought them too strong. On November 30th 
he wired Meade that he had just received a 
copy of a newspaper published in Augusta, 

24 



370 HAMPTON AND HIS GA VALBY. 

Ga., containing a notice signed "Wade Hamp- 
ton," instructing his men to rendezvous there, 
and that he was uncertain whether this meant 
that General Hampton, with a part of his cav- 
alry, had left Virginia, or whether the signature 
might not, in fact, represent that of a son of 
General Hampton. He expressed the opinion 
that if Hampton had left Virginia, it would be 
a good time to attack, but not otherwise. A 
little later their correspondence shows that they 
had discovered Hampton had not left Virginia, 
and had heard that Mrs. Hampton was honor- 
ing headquarters with her presence, from which 
they concluded it would not be a favorable mo- 
ment to attack on the right, the corps probably 
being in force there. However, they were un- 
easy at doing nothing, and so determined to 
send the cavalry reconnoitering south of Reams 
station towards Stony creek, on the Weldon 
railroad. Accordingly Gregg, with his division, 
or the chief part of it, went in that direction, and 



Lieutenant Wade Hampton, eldest son of General Hampto 
wounded in the battle of Burgess Mill. 

(371) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 373 

near Stony creek, on December ist, succeeded 
in surprising a small number of dismounted 
(without horses) men, stationed there as guard 
over a few supplies, and a construction squad. 
All, or nearly all, the guard were captured, but 
as only 1 70 prisoners in all were shown by the 
Federal return of the raid, it must have been a 
very trifling affair, and the disproportion of num- 
bers enormous. But the Federals returned to 
Reams station and a congratulatory order was 
issued to the troops for this achievement. M. C. 
Butler, hearing of this raid, started his division 
to overtake them, but they " had the foot on 
him," as the countrymen say, and escaped to 
the cover of the infantry. It was in the middle 
of the night that Butler's men were routed out 
of their blankets to get into saddle, and the 
first very cold night of the winter, so that they 
did not feel very cheerful about it. But some 
of them were soon laughing over a funny sight. 
One very nice fellow had had the misfortune to 



374 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

lose an eye, and had replaced it by one of 
glass. His habit was each night, before rolling 
up in his blanket, to remove from the socket 
and put this false eye in a cup of water by his 
side. He had done so on this occasion, and 
when he awoke to mount, he found the water in 
the cup frozen to the bottom and the glass 
effectually encased in ice, not to be removed 
until melted out over a fire. Of course, there 
was no time then to do this. He was com- 
pelled, therefore, to accept the situation, pocket 
the ice and the eye, and cover the place in his 
face where it ought to have been with the ex- 
temporized expedient of an old stocking, which 
gave him a most grotesque appearance. He 
did not " damn his eyes," but swore at the one 
offending false member in a manner which 
must have made it wink for shame. 

Encouraged by the reconnoissance of Gregg, 
which seemed to show but small force guard- 
ing the Weldon railroad south of Reams 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 375 

station, the Federal commander determined to 
make an attempt to destroy the Weldon rail- 
road as far south as Hicksford or Bellefield, on 
the Meherrin river, about twenty miles south 
of Stony creek. For although he had effected 
a lodgment at Reams station, thus cutting off 
there this line of communication with Lee's 
army, yet the railroad was still of use to the 
Confederates, as supplies from the South, 
brought to Stony creek, which place Lee yet 
held, could be wagoned to the army. So 
preparations were made by the Federals to 
send out an expedition for this purpose, con- 
sisting of twenty-two thousand infantry, four 
thousand cavalry, and five batteries, under 
Warren, to which were added afterwards eight 
thousand additional troops. At the same time 
Nelson A. Miles was started out with a heavy 
column on the Confederate right flank, on 
Hatcher's run, to try his hand developing the 
position there, and to ascertain what troops 



376 HAMPTON AND EI8 CA VALBY. 

were detached to pursue Warren. If he found 
it practicable, however, he was to make a diver- 
sion in favor of the latter and strike hard. 
Miles was told, too, to feel his way cautiously, 
and to " look out " he was not cut off, and these 
latter- orders he closely complied with and made 
no vigorous movements. He confronted the 
works at the run, and there was a little, more or 
less harmless, skirmishing, but nothing serious. 
The Confederate force at this point was much 
weakened by cavalry and infantry sent out to 
check Warren, but enough remained to be 
quite secure against Miles, as it turned out. 
The pickets left had a hard time, for, having 
been sent out originally for four days, provided 
with rations for that period only, and being 
necessarily left there without relief when their 
commands saddled up and marched after War- 
ren, they were obliged to take up many holes 
in their sword-belts, as did Dugald Dalgetty, 
to serve instead of food. Much of the weather 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR F. 377 

was cold and snowy, which added to their dis- 
comfort. The reserve pickets were kept 
moving about briskly, too, for their number 
being small they were compelled to make up 
for this in activity and to rush rapidly from place 
to place, as their services were required. 
There were many games of hide and seek 
played with the enemy — run out of a minor 
position, it would be retaken after a time, and 
then the same process repeated. Several 
videttes were killed at night, and there were 
some little incidents hardly worth relating, 
which, however, made an impression at the 
time. 

On regaining a position from which a Fed- 
eral picket had been driven, it was noticed that 
near a camp-fire the surface of the ground for 
about two feet square looked as if it might have 
been disturbed, and the idea was suggested 
that the enemy on retiring had concealed in the 
hole some large pieces of bacon or other rations 



378 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALRT. 

rather too bulky to carry off conveniently, as 
they expected soon to return. This was not 
an uncommon practice with them. The hungry 
men who noticed the covered hole were 
very much pleased at the rich find which 
they thought they had discovered. One of 
them at once began to scrape out the earth 
with his hands in the lack of any implement 
available for the purpose, the others eagerly 
watching the process. Soon a clear white piece 
of bacon was partially uncovered, and the man 
paused a moment in his task with a look of 
great satisfaction. The others told him to 
''Go ahead!" which he did, but the next two 
or three handfuls of earth scraped out served 
to reveal the forehead of a corpse, and also the 
open, staring eyes, the waxy nose and colorless 
lips. There were few situations of any kind 
which could ruffle the equanimity of a seasoned 
Confederate soldier, but this was one of them. 
The accustomed joke, rarely lacking in any 



HAMPTON AND MIS OA VALBT. 379 

circumstances, however serious, was wanting : 
without a word the grave was closed, all 
feeling like ghouls. But no one who saw it 
will ever forget the complex expression on the 
face of the man who did the digging, though 
none had the stomach to laugh. 

There was an occurrence on picket one night 
that was amusing. The Confederate videttes 
were all driven in, and obliged to ride hard to 
save themselves. One of the number was 
noted for owning a very nice horse, a particu- 
larly easy-keeper, remaining in condition won- 
derfully well on a spare supply of forage. Many 
advantageous " swaps " with good " boot " had 
frequently been offered for this animal, but 
none would be listened to. On this occasion, 
however, hardly had the owner succeeded in 
galloping up to the reserve picket-post, horse 
and man panting and blowing, before he offered 
to " swap " with any one on easy terms. 

"He's a good un," said he, "but I don't 



380 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

want no slow hoss for this business." The by- 
standers all must have agreed with him, for 
they declined the offer. 

Another incident occurred which showed 
generosity on one side and courage on the 
other. One morning the Confederates had a 
little force, dismounted, holding some pretty 
strong works on the farther side of an .open 
field. The enemy reconnoitred with a squadron 
or two mounted on gray horses, coming 
up to within perhaps three hundred yards 
of these works. Fire was not opened 
on them because it was expected they 
would dismount and attack. Meantime one 
of the officers, riding a large gray horse, 
cantered leisurely across the field to within one 
hundred yards of the position, and there 
stopped for some little time calmly surveying 
the fortifications. Most of the men there must 
have been visible to him. Not a gun was fired 
at him all this time, though it was such an easy 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 381 

shot that a child could have killed him. He 
ought to have been shot, of course, for he was 
gaining knowledge of the works, but every man 
there admired his pluck and shrank from being 
the one to do the deed, leaving the unpleasant 
duty to someone else. Not a rifle was fired 
until he had turned and cantered back some 
distance, when there were two half-hearted, 
futile shots, and only two. It was probably as 
clear a case of generous respect for courage as 
was ever witnessed. 

At this time, besides the Warren raid with 
over 34,000 troops of all arms, and the attempt 
of Brigadier-General (then brevet major-gen- 
eral of volunteers) Nelson A. Miles at Hatcher's 
run, Ben. Butler, on the north side of the James, 
was ordered to assume a threatening attitude 
to prevent Lee from detaching men, and this 
was to be carried farther, if circumstances 
favored. This he did not make his customary 
fuss in doing, being busy with a grand pyro- 



382 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

tecnic exhibition he was preparing, such as was 
never tried before (nor since), which was to 
level the walls of the forts protecting Wilming- 
ton, like those of Jericho of old. This was in 
connection with a large force sent to capture 
Wilmington. Then it was also contemplated, 
if Lee's lines seemed much weakened by men 
drawn off to meet these four movements, to try 
to break through the fortifications by a coup de 
main, and capture Petersburg. All this is now 
revealed to us by the despatches accessible. 
Thus, there were five separate attempts against 
Lee on foot at the same time, and to each 
could be assigned an army almost as large as 
his. It is no doubt convenient for a commander 
to be able to muster separate armies at will, 
but what shall we say of the genius of his oppo- 
nent, who holds them all at bay ? 

Warren started on his expedition early in 
the morning of December 7th, striking for 
Stony creek, on the Weldon road, intending to 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 383 

proceed southward, destroying the track. On 
the next day 851 stragglers from his columns 
were brought into the Federal lines, to the 
great disgust of the authorities, who were put 
to it to devise adequate punishment and means 
of prevention in future, and these were much dis- 
cussed. To prevent ''straggling" and "shirk- 
ing " in line of battle on comparatively open 
ground the expedient of a file behind with 
fixed bayonets often worked well, but in thick 
cover ("woods-fighting") this could not be 
managed. The Federal generals were greatly 
annoyed, too, during all the previous summer 
and autumn by desertions. When the hostile 
lines came close together, sometimes separated 
by hardly more than a pistol-shot in distance, it 
was easy for men to run across, particularly at 
night, and this they often did, not only singly, 
but a dozen or more together. This practice 
became so frequent that a general order was 
issued promising every man a twenty-days' fur- 



384 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALR T. 

lough who would shoot a comrade in the act of 
deserting. 

Gaining information of Warren's movement 
on December 7th, Hampton started his two 
divisions in pursuit. Butler had some pretty 
fair skirmishing that morning. The intention 
was to prevent the enemy reaching Bellefield 
(Hicksford). At one o'clock P. M., Hampton 
received a telegram from General Lee inform- 
ing him that Hill, with his corps, was marching 
through Dinwiddie Courthouse towards Belle- 
field, and instructing him to communicate with 
Hill. This he did, explaining the position of 
Warren's forces, and pointing out the way in 
which he thought he could be intercepted. 
Skirmishing continued during the day, inter- 
fering with the destruction of the railroad. At 
two o'clock A. M. December 9th the cavalry 
were put in motion and arrived near Hicksford 
by daylight, when preparations were at once 
made to defend the place and protect the bridge 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 385 

over the Meherrin river. Colonel Garnett was 
in command there with a few hundred infantry- 
men. The enemy did not make his appearance 
until about three P. M. the next day, when he 
attacked. The horse-artillery batteries of Hart 
and McGregor opened a sharp fire in connec- 
tion with Garnett's men and repulsed the Fed- 
erals, who made no further assault, though 
firing continued until dark. After consultation 
with General Hill, it was determined that 
Hampton would, in the morning, get round the 
enemy's left flank, and thus to their rear, while 
Hill would strike him from Jarratt station, 
some ten miles farther to the north. But the 
Federals prevented these manoeuvres by re- 
treating. They were followed up and much 
harassed, about 300 prisoners and many arms 
were taken by the cavalry, and the opportuni- 
ties of the enemy to injure the railroad track 
curtailed, but they finally regained their lines. 
Meantime much anxiety was felt about Warren 

25 



386 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

at Federal headquarters, and reinforcements 
were sent out to render him assistance. A 
despatch from Meade to General Grant, ex- 
hibiting some nervousness, adds : " If Warren's 
men will fight, and we have any luck, Warren 
ought to repulse him." This would not be an 
unnatural expectation, inasmuch as if Hill's 
entire corps had been there by the return of 
November 30th, about 15,000 strong, and 
Hampton's corps at the same date, including 
Dearing's brigade temporarily attached, about 
6,000 in number, less dismounted men of over 
1,000, there would have been about 20,000 in 
all against Warren, who had over 34,000. But 
in point of fact, there were not more than 
16,000 Confederates in all available, as the 
right flank could not spare nearly all the cav- 
alry and so large a number of infantry. Hill's 
troops were very badly supplied with shoes, 
and as the weather was cold and there was 
much snow and ice, they suffered great hard- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. £87 

ships. In some places the snow bore the marks 
of their bleeding feet. 

The injury inflicted upon the W eldon railroad 
by Warren was small in proportion to the prep- 
arations made for the expedition and the force 
employed. What was effected cost the Fed- 
erals much trouble and expense, a*nd the Con- 
federates set about repairing it at once, and 
without difficulty. The rails had not been de- 
stroyed. The cavalry, except D earing' s bri- 
gade, were moved down to camps near Belle- 
field for the purpose of restoring the railroad 
where broken, and also to enable them more 
easily to procure forage for the horses, and 
near that place headquarters were established. 
There were, during the rest of the month, no 
movements of the Federals of a serious charac- 
ter to cause hard work for the cavalry, and 
their labors were consequently confined chiefly 
to picketing, which was not very onerous. The 
condition of the horses improved very much 



388 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

during this comparative rest, and the number 
of the men increased as those recovered from 
wounds reported back. By the return of Octo- 
ber 20, 1864, the corps, with Dearing's brigade, 
numbered 5,375 men, including the dismounted, 
and by the return of December 31, 1864, it had 
increased to 7,063. The efficiency of the com- 
mand was much greater at the end of the cam- 
paign than it had been at the beginning, or 
probably at any intermediate period. Its 
morale and physique were excellent. Besides 
this, there were about a thousand men absent 
on horse-furloughs, and when these returned, 
together with the fresh recruits which would 
have been brought to camp by them, the 
strength of the corps for the next cam- 
paign would have been very satisfactory. 
But this was not to be, for events 
quite outside of the lines of the Army of 
Northern Virginia were moulding their destiny. 
Early in January it was decided to send But- 



HAMPTON AND HIS" OA VALET. 389 

ler's and Young's brigades, of Major-General 
M. C. Butler's division, to Columbia, S. C, 
these brigades numbering by the return of 
December 20, 1864, 940 and 586 men respect- 
ively. This was done in order to supply troops 
to check Sherman as well as to give the men 
an opportunity to procure fresh mounts at 
home with the expectation of returning to Vir- 
ginia in the spring. On January 19th an order 
was issued to this effect : "The men will take 
with them their arms, their cooking utensils 
and equipments, and will be prepared for a 
winter campaign." Thus was terminated the 
campaign, and thus ended forever the service of 
Butler's division with the Army of Northern Vir- 
ginia, of which they were proven a worthy part. 

General Hampton, too, was directed to pro- 
ceed to South Carolina to superintend the 
mounting and recruiting of the cavalry there, 
"with permission, if a suitable command be 
given him, to operate it until recalled to Vir- 



390 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

ginia." At about this time he was commis- 
sioned a lieutenant-general. 

Thus had closed the campaign of '64, during 
which Lee's numbers and material re- 
sources were almost incredibly less than 
those of his adversary, and yet the 
campaign was a victory for Lee. And 
if it could have been left to the Army of 
Northern Virginia and the Armies of the Poto- 
mac and of the James to fight out the issue as 
in a duel between themselves, the Southern 
Confederacy, as it now, in the light of informa- 
tion but recently accessible, seems clear, would 
have established its independence. That such 
was not the result was due to causes outside of 
the Virginian armies, chiefly to the unnecessary 
wrecking of the western Confederate army, 
and consequently the easy march permitted to 
Sherman for devastating the country and form- 
ing a junction with Grant. This was rendered 
possible by mismanagement, and was not the 



HAMPTON AND EI8 CA VALE T. 391 

inevitable consequence of larger numbers. 
The theory most current at present, and which 
it is considered in some quarters patriotic to 
hold, is that the largest armies insure success 
in war to the side possessing them, and the result 
of our Civil War is pointed to as an incontroverti- 
ble illustration of this, but as a matter of fact 
the campaign of '64 and the war itself are 
proofs of the reverse of such a proposition. 
And it will be a sad day for these United 
States if their population should ever become 
imbued with the belief that numbers alone in- 
sure success in war, for this would signify that 
they were no longer able to maintain their 
freedom against all comers, and therefore un- 
worthy to retain it. God forbid that they should 
believe all they are told in these times about 
the overwhelming effect of mechanical appli- 
ances in war, nitro- powders and breech-loaders, 
long-range artillery and high-power explosive 
projectiles, iron-clads and steam, annihilating 



392 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

distance, and that the element of the individual 
man is of little importance. Just so the 
ancients deplored that human valor was no 
longer of avail against the catapult, and later 
on, with the advent of gunpowder, "villainous 
saltpetre," the elimination of the human prin- 
ciple in battle was declared complete. Yet in 
spite of all this, the Macedonian phalanx and 
the crack Roman legions continued to hold their 
ground "like a stone wall," and the English 
archers at Agincourt and many another field, 
with long-bow and cloth-yard shaft played havoc 
with Frenchmen ; and their lineal descendants, 
handling the antiquated muzzle-loader with 
Minie bullets, proved, from the Wilderness to 
Five Forks, that they were "chips of the old 
block." Mechanical inventions cause changes 
in details and modifications of methods in war, 
but the grand underlying principles remain 
eternal, and of these, the courage and discip- 
lined intelligence, the moral and physical endur- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 393 

ance of "the man behind the gun," are the 
most important. 

The question of the morale of Butler's divis- 
ion, that part of the cavalry of the Army of 
Northern Virginia which at the break-up at the 
end of the war was attached to Johnston's army, 
does not, strictly speaking, belong to this narra- 
tive of the campaign of '64. Yet, as it does 
concern a well-earned reputation for soldierly 
qualities, reference to it here can hardly be 
deemed out of place. 

Joseph Wheeler, a major-general at the time 
alluded to, was serving under Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral Hampton, but his command was confined 
to the cavalry which accompanied him from the 
West after the wrecking of the army there by 
the gallant but ill-starred Hood. About the 
sentiments and condition of his own men 
Wheeler would naturally be supposed to be 
well informed, and his opinion that they were 
far from enthusiastically in favor of continuing 



394 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

the war may be correct as to many of them, 
but with Butler's division he did not come 
directly in contact, and possessed no sources of 
information about it, and he certainly has fallen 
into a great error when he states in an article 
in the May number of this year (1898) of the 
Century Magazine that these men were not in 
good heart, and could not have been depended 
upon at that juncture to volunteer as an escort 
for Jefferson Davis. Certainly nothing could 
be farther from the actual facts. They could 
have been relied upon for any enterprise that 
Hampton wished them to engage in, and would 
have felt especially honored at having the pro- 
tection of Mr. Davis' person entrusted to them, 
and would have defended him against all odds. 
This is not the place to attempt a description 
of the career of this division in the campaign of 
the Carolinas in 1865, but by way of showing 
what condition they were in at a time not far 
from that of which General Wheeler speaks, it 



A favorite tree of General Hampton, in the grounds at Milkrood " 

(395) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 397 

would be but fair to relate one of their last acts, 
the capture of Kilpatrick's camp near Fayette- 
ville, N. C, on March 10, 1865. 

The 9th of March had been a rainy day and 
the night was very dark. Somewhat in ad- 
vance of the head of his division was riding 
General Butler, and accompanying him in 
column of fours were a few men constituting 
his escort, and a scout or two. As the horses' 
feet went slushing through the mire, the sound 
of other hoofs, muffled by mud, coming from the 
opposite direction was heard, and silently the 
command was halted by whispers passed back 
down the line. When the new-comers had 
reached within a few yards of Butler, his clear, 
calm voice broke through the darkness envelop- 
ing everything : 

" Halt ! Who comes there ? " 

To this was made, in the usual way, the reply 
that it was a detachment from a certain Ohio 
regiment ordered to picket that road, the 



398 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR 7. 

speaker supposing he was talking to friends. 
So Butler quietly told him to march on, which the 
detachment proceeded to do by separating in 
column of twos, and thus passing on either side 
of the body which they had met. But when 
they had marched sufficiently far to be inex- 
tricably trapped, came the words from Butler, 
spoken in a cool, ordinary tone of voice : 

" Halt there ! You are prisoners ! " 

And without another word each Confederate 
laid one hand on the fellow next him, with 
pistol ready in the other, and the whole thing 
was done without any fuss or noise. There 
were forty of them. One of their captors was 
a boy far from out of his teens, who rode a 
little plantation " tackey " not over thirteen 
hands in height. He was obliged to stand in 
his stirrups and stretch up to do it, but succeeded 
in collaring a big, strapping Westerner over six 
feet tall, with the words, uttered in a tone appro- 
priate to some tragedy being acted on the stage, 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 399 

" You are my prisoner ! Surrender, sir ! " 

He had only left the maternal nest and joined 
the command a short time before this, and had 
no arms except a pistol which some one had 
loaned him, and the minute animal he bestrode so 
proudly could hardly be called a horse, but he 
was allowed from his capture to mount and 
arm himself satisfactorily, and was highly de- 
lighted. 

Butler promptly communicated with Hamp- 
ton, and they conferred together. Scouts dis- 
mounted, felt their way down the road in the 
direction from which the pickets had come, and 
discovered that the information obtained from 
some of the prisoners was correct, and that 
Kilpatrick's division was in camp near by, with 
nothing at all between it and Butler's division, 
the detachment captured having been counted 
upon for picketing that road. During all the 
night, along the edges of the road in the dark- 
ness close up to the Federal camp, lurked the 



400 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 

trusty scouts of Hampton, so as to pick up 
noiselessly any one coming from there to visit 
the picket-post, and two or three were thus 
gathered in before morning, but without the 
firing of a shot or other sound. In some 
woods on each side of the road the division 
bivouacked, horses remaining saddled, men 
awake to keep them quiet, or dozing, sitting on 
the ground with bridle-rein in hand, or under 
leg, ready to mount at a second's notice. No 
fire must be lit for warmth or cooking and no 
match struck for a pipe ; so ran the orders, for 
this is to be a surprise-party pure and simple. 

Early that morning one man had been 
despatched with a message, but before he 
reached the command for which it was in- 
tended it had moved off, and he had been try- 
ing all day to find it without success until to- 
wards evening. He had narrowly missed 
several times riding into detachments of the 
enemy, and been shot at more than once for his 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 401 

trouble, and at about ten o'clock at night re- 
joined his comrades, hungry, tired, wet, and 
disgusted. The first thing he did was to 
"borrow" a piece of corn bread which had 
been fresh when the world was younger, and a 
canteen of water which was rich in all manner 
of germs, but uncontaminated by whiskey. He 
then looked about, as well as the darkness 
would permit, and found several of his friends 
in a group together earnestly whispering, their 
horses standing round looking as solemn and 
wise as judges on the bench. Now, these 
young men ought undoubtedly to have been 
engaged in saying their prayers and softly 
humming snatches of hymns recalled from early 
days, for the purpose of bracing up their nerves 
for the fight fixed for daylight, but the truth 
must be told, and the words overheard by the 
hungry, tired trooper just arrived were : 

" It is she ! I know it is ! " 

" By Jove ! Certain?" 

26 



402 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

" Yes ! I tracked the wheels for hours to- 
day. No chance to mistake the wheel-marks 
of that victoria among these heavy wagon- 
trains. She is in his camp, and we will be sure 
to see her in the morning." 

Then they all whispered " By Jove ! " with 
great earnestness. 

It seems there was an exceedingly pretty 
young girl in Columbia when these boys had 
been there lately, whom some of them had been 
acquainted with. She dressed very well and 
drove in a victoria at a time when it was not 
comme il faut to dress well and drive in 
victorias. With her mother she had left Co- 
lumbia, as a refugee, with Sherman's army. 
To anticipate : after her arrival at the North, 
hers was a far from quiet career. At Newport, 
the Mecca of the faithful to fashion, she figured ; 
married into a rich family of Puritan extraction ; 
released 11 a vinculo" remarried, after sundry 
experiences, within foreign diplomatic circles, 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALRT 403 

and "raised Cain" generally. That, however, 
does not concern this story, but her connection 
with it will appear from the sequel on the 
morrow. 

This opportunity to strike Kilpatrick was 
just what was desired, for his command blocked 
the roads to Fayetteville on the Cape Fear 
river, about eight miles distant, where a cross- 
ing was intended, and a successful attack would 
remove him out of the way. Hampton's plan 
was by the first daylight to burst into camp by 
the unpicketed road, surprising and throwing 
into confusion the Federal cavalry division, and 
Wheeler was instructed, when he heard the 
firing, to drive in the pickets opposite to him 
and break through to assist Butler. By this it 
was expected to hem in a large number of 
prisoners, and hold the position until everything 
removable could be brought off and the rest 
burned. 

Before daylight Butler's command was noise- 



404 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

lessly formed in the road in column of fours, 
the portion to which was assigned the leading 
charge being advanced considerably beyond 
the others, and consequently close to the camp 
to be attacked, leaving a good interval between 
them and the troops behind, which admitted of 
the latter being promptly dismounted in case of 
a counter-attack. The ground was soaked and 
steaming with exhalations, and the fog ren- 
dered it difficult to see, even after sunrise. 
When the proper moment arrived, the detach- 
ment intended to lead the charge was moved 
on a walk almost to the entrance of the camp, 
and there halted for a moment as Butler rode 
to their head. Removing his hat and waving 
it above his head, he spoke, in ringing tones : 

"Troops from Virginia ! Follow me ! For- 
ward, march ! " and then " Charge ! " 

They thundered into the sleeping camp, and 
if all the foul fiends from the nether world had 
accompanied them the Federals could not have 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VA LB Y 405 

been more surprised or demoralized. The 
camp-guards, if there were any awake, had no 
time to give warning, and the men under the 
tent-flies were literally ridden over ; or, as they 
sprang out half-asleep, were sabred or ridden 
down before they knew what was doing. Un- 
dressed and unarmed, awakened out of a pro- 
found sleep to find their camp overrun, they 
fled in all directions, leaving accoutrements 
behind. It was a wild sight. When the Con- 
federates had charged through the ground they 
wheeled and came rushing back, scattering and 
riding down what was left, and making prison- 
ers. Meantime other detachments of the divis- 
ion had struck the position at different points, 
and were making themselves heard from most 
effectually. 

Just then a pathetic incident occurred. Some 
prisoners, mostly broken-down stragglers from 
the infantry, or citizen-soldiery, in charge of the 
Federal provost guard, 173 in number, seeing 



40b HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

that rescue was at hand, broke from their cap- 
tors and rushed forward to meet their friends, 
adding to the tumult by their cheers and cries 
of joy. Two of these, in their excitement, rec- 
ognizing mounted comrades advancing, threw 
their arms around the necks of their horses and 
were thus killed, being in the obscurity and smoke 
mistaken for enemies. One was so slain by a 
loving friend. It was the most painful occur- 
rence ever witnessed by those present. 

From these escaped prisoners it was quickly 
learned that a small farm-house on the right of 
the road, where it entered the camp, was head- 
quarters. This house had been passed and left 
behind by the regiments opening the attack, 
for, as stated, it was difficult to make out ob- 
jects clearly in the uncertain light. Thus had 
been afforded an opportunity for Kilpatrick and 
his staff to escape. This general himself fled 
in his shirt and drawers, and so failed to be 
recognized and captured. Close to this house 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 407 

were fastened many horses, among others those 
belonging to headquarters, all of which were 
carried off, except such as were accidentally shot. 
A handsome black, and a peculiar-looking pic- 
bald stallion belonging to Kilpatrick, were 
taken, as was also a third. One of the pluckiest 
of pistol-duels came off just here. A Federal 
from about headquarters cut loose a fine horse, 
and leaping on his back was about making off, 
but finding an enemy close in upon him, turned 
about, and the two fought it out, no one inter- 
fering, but, on the contrary, several stopped in 
their own work to look on, for the episode 
occupied only a few seconds. Although so close 
together that they could almost touch, each fired 
several shots before the Federal rolled off his 
horse, as he fell on the animal's neck deliver- 
ing bravely one last shot in dying. 

Some of the Federals, thus summarily ex- 
pelled from their camp, communicated the news 
of their misfortune to their infantry, which was 



408 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

set in motion for their succor. The plan had 
been, as we have said, that when the noise of 
Butler's attack was heard by General Joseph 
Wheeler, he should drive in the pickets and 
strike the camp from another direction, and 
thus co-operate with Butler. This he failed to 
do in the manner expected, being delayed by 
some swampy ground, as it was then alleged, 
and by the time he came up the Federals had 
had a breathing spell for rallying and an oppor- 
tunity to send for assistance. Kilpatrick, too, 
was exerting in creditable manner his utmost 
personal endeavors to save his command from 
the utter ruin which seemed imminent. Thus 
a pretty stiff fight of dismounted men was soon 
under way, and artillery opened on both sides. 

About this time, at the entrance-door of the 
headquarter house, a female skirt, a hat and rib- 
bon and other similar accoutrements of the fair 
sex appeared, and were at once spied by some 
of those young fellows who had been found 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 409 

whispering together the night before. The first 
duty of the cavalier is to rescue distressed 
damsels, and so these boys thoroughly believed, 
and were about delightedly so to do. But, alas ! 
for all human hopes. On nearer inspection this 
proved to be the wrong damsel, if damsel she 
could be termed at all, being old, ugly, and 
perhaps respectable, and she turned out to be 
a "school-marm" from Vermont, who had 
availed herself of the assistance of Sherman's 
army to return to her home. However, she 
was a woman after all, if she was ugly, and one 
of those same thoughtless youngsters referred 
to, quietly dismounted, and, hat in hand, ap- 
proached her, bowing as deferentially as if it 
indeed had been the hoped-for fair one, and 
kindly explained the danger from chance bullets 
and shells against which the thin weather-board- 
ing of the house would be little better protec- 
tion than pasteboard. But, woman-like, she 
could not at first be made to comprehend that 



410 HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 

the horses could not be attached to her vehicle 
and she drive quietly away to more congenial 
scenes. However, at length she took in the 
situation sensibly, and was conducted to a 
drainage-ditch, in which she lay and was com- 
paratively safe. Fortunately she was not hurt 
during the melee, and seemed somewhat appre- 
ciative of the kindness done her. But it was 
all a sad disappointment to those expectant 
boys. 

During all the hurly-burly of the fight Butler 
was calmly directing the operations of his com- 
mand. Like "Chinese" Gordon, who carried 
no weapons in action, only a bamboo cane in 
his hand, Butler during this campaign was 
always to be seen among the bullets, with 
merely a lady's silver-mounted riding-whip, 
with which he would point out from time to 
time to those around him what was to be done. 

A large number of horses were safely carried 
off, and a considerable amount of arms, ac- 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBY. 411 

coutrements, and clothing, and some wagons, 
but not as many of the latter as would otherwise 
have been secured, because of the stampeding 
of the animals pertaining to them. The same 
cause operated against hauling away artillery. 
This could have been effected if Wheeler had 
succeeded in carrying out the part of the pro- 
gramme assigned to him. But, as it turned 
out, time, as we have said, was allowed the 
enemy for rallying and procuring help from 
their infantry before Butler was reinforced. 
General Joseph E. Johnston, in referring to this 
affair in his " Narrative," says that more wagons 
and artillery were not brought off because the 
men stopped to plunder ; but this was not cor- 
rect — at least, of Butler's division. It was true 
as to a part of Wheeler's command, which was 
not under the best of discipline. Besides the 
Confederate prisoners released, numbering 173, 
there were over 500 Federals captured and 
taken away. The killed and wounded of the 



412 HAMPTON AAD EI8 CAVALRY. 

enemy must have exceeded 300, and these, 
added to the number of captured Federals and 
released Confederates, would make the aggre- 
gate of nearly 1,000, which was more than the 
entire force of Butler. Kilpatrick's division 
was about 5,000 strong. Wheeler's command 
numbered some 3,000, if the men could be got 
together. The work done, Hampton withdrew 
to occupy the roads leading to Fayetteville, 
which he had thus cleared of obstruction. The 
losses were small, but unfortunately General 
Butler's brother, serving on his staff, lost his 
arm. 

This affair attracted much attention at the 
time, and had quite a bad effect upon the 
morale of Kilpatrick's cavalry division. That 
officer, in talking the matter over after the war 
with one who had been present at the fight, 
said that as he was making his escape, with 
his command scattering in every direction, he 
thought, "Well! I have been working hard 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 413 

these four years for a major-general's commis- 
sion and now in five minutes I have lost it all." 
He was at this time only brevet major-general. 
This disaster probably weakened him in his 
commanding general's estimation, for soon 
after this Sherman paid his visit to Grant at 
Petersburg, and was very urgent in his request 
to have Sheridan assigned to him. In fact, he 
persuaded Grant to consent to this, but at 
Sheridan's earnest remonstrance this arrange- 
ment was postponed, though not altogether 
abandoned. The surprise and rout of his camp 
by Hampton, " the first terrible onset of the 
foe," as Kilpatrick terms it, was particularly 
mortifying to him because of the similar mis- 
fortune he had suffered at the hands of the 
same unwelcome visitor hardly more than a 
year before at Atlee's station during the Dahl- 
gren raid, when he was obliged to seek refuge 
in the bosom of Ben. Butler, and thence embark 
aboard ship to regain the lines of his army. 



414 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALB T. 

He naturally felt very sore upon the subject. 
It is not, therefore, to be wondered at that in 
his official report he should not have quite con- 
formed to the accounts given by eye-witnesses 
of the affair, and those conversant with the facts. 
He says that Hampton charged his camp with 
three divisions, but, as has been related, the 
attack was made by Butler's division only, so 
that, instead of being outnumbered, Kilpatrick 
actually had five to one. Of course the sur- 
prise effected placed the Federals under a 
great disadvantage. In his official report he 
says : " Hampton led the centre division 
(Butler's), and in less than a minute had driven 
back my people and taken possession of my 
headquarters, captured the artillery, and the 
whole command was flying before the most 
formidable cavalry charge I ever have wit- 
nessed. Colonel Spencer and a large portion 
of my staff were virtually taken prisoners. On 
foot I succeeded in gaining the cavalry camp a 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 415 

few hundred yards in the rear and found the 
men fighting with the rebels for their camp and 
animals, and we were finally forced back some 
500 yards farther to a swamp impassable to 
friend or foe." This, except in regard to 
Butler's division being the centre instead of 
the entire attacking force, is substantially cor- 
rect. What, however, he goes on to say about 
recapturing the camp is somewhat erroneous. 
Hampton naturally withdrew when he con- 
cluded he had effected all that was practicable, 
not intending to engage in a battle with all the 
infantry as well as cavalry of Sherman's army. 
Kilpatrick estimates that he lost eighty-seven 
officers and men, besides an additional number 
not specified, who were less seriously wounded, 
and 103 prisoners, but the latter number does 
not correspond with the prisoners carried away 
by the Confederates, who counted up over 500, 
and in casualties a similar mistake has probably 
been made. 



416 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALR Y. 

Besides, there were other similar matters 
to which General Kilpatrick did not relish 
reference, practical jokes at his expense by 
Hampton, especially the " Buckland races" in 
Fauquier county, Virginia, which came off on 
October 19, 1863. Hampton, with his division, 
was then at Buckland, confronting Kilpatrick' s 
cavalry and a considerable force of infantry. 
The enemy was endeavoring to cross south- 
ward the Broad run at Buckland. Fitz. Lee's 
division was some miles off but within support- 
ing distance, and the following plan was ac- 
cordingly arranged. Hampton withdrew in the 
direction of Warrenton for nearly five miles, 
and Kilpatrick, supposing him to be retreating, 
crossed Broad run and followed. Fitz. Lee's 
division was then moved up so as to be interposed 
between the Federals and the ford in their 
rear. It was a case of the spider and the fly. 
Kilpatrick, however, had been cautious about 
putting his whole foot in the trap, and left 




27 



(417) 



HAMPTON AND HIS CAVALRY. 419 

Custer's brigade behind at Buckland at the 
ford. So Fitz. Lee coming up fell upon Custer, 
and a stiff fight ensued. At the sound of the 
firing, Hampton at once wheeled about, as had 
been agreed upon, and dashed furiously at Kil- 
patrick, whose men, realizing from the sounds 
of musketry and artillery in their rear proceed- 
ing from the combat between Fitz. Lee and 
Custer, that the trap had been sprung, made 
but slight resistance and endeavored to effect 
a retreat, but soon broke in wild disorder. 
This quickly became a stampede on the part of 
Davies' brigade. Colonel Young, command- 
ing Butler's brigade, endeavored to cut off the 
enemy by galloping his troops through the 
woods on the right of the road, and Rosser 
charged on the left, while Gorden's brigade 
made all speed down the road in direct pursuit. 
And thus they raced for nearly five miles. 
Some of the fugitives from Davies' brigade 
crossed the run, and the rest made towards 



420 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALBY. 

Haymarket. Eight wagons and ambulances 
were captured, among them Custer's head- 
quarter wagon, baggage and papers, and 250 
prisoners from Davies' brigade. Custer, per- 
ceiving a dense cloud of dust and a clatter of 
hoofs approaching from the direction of War- 
renton, had concluded he had better recross 
the run before the stampede reached him, and 
this he succeeded in doing without allowing his 
command to fall into much disorder, and safely 
carrying away his artillery. But the rest of 
Kilpatrick's cavalry required much looking-up 
before they were found, as they did not stop 
their swift gallop through the exhilarating Octo- 
ber air until reaching the lines of their First 
army corps. In the Federal official reports of 
this affair no mention is made of the stampede 
of Davies' brigade, but the fact remains estab- 
lished by numerous witnesses on both sides in 
the fight. 

Apropos of all this is the following anecdote : 



HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALRT. 421 

On April 13, 1865, General Joseph E. John- 
ston had an interview at Greensboro, N. C, 
with Mr. Davis and his Cabinet, and as a con- 
sequence General Johnston was directed to 
send a communication, then prepared and 
signed by him, to General Sherman, requesting 
a conference. General Johnston late that night 
sent this note to General Hampton, then near 
Hillsboro, with the request that it be delivered 
by a member of his staff. General Hampton 
was not informed of the contents of the commu- 
nication. He awoke Captain Rawlins Lowndes, 
of his staff, and entrusted the document to him 
to be delivered. As it was then after midnight 
and very dark and rainy, the General suggested 
that it was not unlikely Lowndes might be 
fired upon by the Federal cavalry pickets before 
he could communicate to them the nature of 
his mission, and said he could take as escort 
a company, or a squadron, if he wished it. 
Lowndes replied that an escort would be of no 



422 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRY. 

benefit to him, and that he did not think it ad- 
visable to expose the men to the risk of fire 
without good cause. So the General then told 
him to take with him one reliable man as, 
courier, and to bring back a reply to the 
note he would deliver. Lowndes consequently 
started accompanied by a courier, and soon 
reached Kilpatrick's lines without misadvent- 
ure, and was duly halted by a vidette. He 
stated his business, the officer in charge of the 
post was summoned, and a message sent to 
Kilpatrick's headquarters, to which, in reply, 
Lowndes was invited to repair. The letter to 
Sherman was forwarded, but as that officer was 
at a distance, eight hours elapsed before his 
answer was delivered to be carried back to 
Hampton. In the meantime Lowndes re- 
mained a guest at Kilpatrick's headquarters. 
They talked about various things, quite amica- 
bly, of course, but after awhile the conversation 
fell upon military matters, and some of them 



HAMPTON AND HIS GA VALB Y. 423 

were disposed to chaff Lowndes rather much. 
Kilpatrick was still very sore indeed concern- 
ing that early morning visit Hampton had paid 
him unannounced only about a month before, 
and showed it rather too much, implying that a 
meeting of that kind with notice would have 
resulted differently. This nettled Lowndes, so 
he said : 

"Well, General, I make you the following 
proposition, and I will pledge myself that Gen- 
eral Hampton will carry it out in every respect. 
You, with your staff, take 1,500 men, and Gen- 
eral Hampton, with his staff, will meet you with 
1,000 men, all to be armed with the sabre alone. 
The two parties will be drawn up mounted in 
regimental formation opposite to each other, 
and, at a signal to be agreed upon, will charge. 
That will settle the question which are the best 
men." 

They all laughed, but did not accept the pro- 
posal, and said they would consider it. Perhaps 



424 HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALET. 

such an arrangement was impracticable, but, all 
the same, it is a pity the affair could not have 
come off. It would have made a pleasant end- 
ing to the war. At that time none of them 
knew that their sabres were practically sheathed 
forever. If they had known this at the time, 
possibly the meeting might have been managed 
in spite of difficulties. The last word Lowndes 
said at leave-taking was to repeat his propo- 
sition to his hosts. 

When it became known by the cavalry that a 
surrender of Johnston's army would probably 
be decided upon, there was great repugnance 
to acquiescing in it, and many officers and men 
were not included in the capitulation. Notable 
among these was General Hampton. A con- 
siderable number of minor officers and privates 
desired to pass over into the trans-Mississippi 
department, there to continue the war under 
his leadership, and started thither for that pur- 
pose. It was not until he had let it be known 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALRT. 425 

that he had abandoned the intention of further 
resistance that the proposed muster in the West 
was given up. At the time the project of fur- 
nishing an escort to Mr. Davis, to enable him 
to make his escape, was under consideration, 
Hart's battery of horse artillery volunteered 
almost to a man for the purpose ; indeed, the 
very guns, eloquent during all these four years 
in every fight within their reach in Virginia and 
the Carolinas, seemed to long to join their 
voices in thunderous assent to the proposition, 
" Will you volunteer ? " So much for the morale 
of Butlers division. 

Thus was ended the career of Hampton as 
soldier, but not so the method of cavalry fight- 
ing which he may be justly said to have intro- 
duced, and which others learned from him and 
utilized. But though his achievements in war, 
which had won for him fame with foe as well as 
friend, were terminated, his wise and patriotic 
Work as pacificator was destined to gain for him 



426 HAMPTON AND UTS CAVALRY. 

the deep gratitude of his own people, as well it 
might, and the approbation of all Americans. 

Our country has now emerged, for better or 
for worse, from a life of peaceful occupations : 
she is no longer content to be farmer, manu- 
facturer, and merchant — the honest, useful indus- 
tries to which she had, as far as practicable, 
hitherto confined herself during all the years of 
her political existence. Now she has essayed 
to embark in foreign wars and conquests, and 
must assume the responsibility which the 
changed conditions render necessary. Our 
recent demonstration against Spain has not in 
fact been, properly speaking, a war at all. 
"Dramatic" it may have been, a term which 
General Shafter, in all seriousness, applied to 
it in an official communication to the War De- 
partment, but perhaps melodramatic would 
have been an even more appropriate word. 
War it was not, for the essential of fighting 
was lacking, there being no foe worthy of the 



HAMPTON AND E18 OA VALRY. 427 

name with whom to fight. Hamlet was con- 
spicuously absent from the programme, and of 
strategy there was still less. "Privations" 
there may have been, in the sense of the miss- 
ing of accustomed comforts by home-bred boys 
(good timber for army-making when seasoned), 
but the most meagre rations ever issued at the 
"front" in Cuba would have been considered 
a feast of Lucullus by the Confederate soldier. 
Yet, although this affair has been "a walk-over," 
its consequences will be out of all proportion 
in importance, and unless the teachings of his- 
tory are fallacious, it will prove the forerunner 
of real and tragic struggles. With Asia, as well 
as Europe, our country must prepare herself, 
when necessary, to grapple. In time, not merely 
"little wars" with "anaemic" nations, but 
serious contests must be expected, in which 
numbers and resources will not be, as hereto- 
fore, overwhelmingly in her favor. Then she 
must find compensation for lack of numerical 



428 HAMPTON AND HIS OA VALMT. 

strength, not in the delusive fad of the day, 
" sea-power," "proud navies laughing at the 
storm," but in the brain and manhood of her 
sons. From Philip's armada and Bonaparte's 
armies England was preserved not by huge 
English ships, but by hard-fighting English 
men. If it ever happens in the future, as well 
it may, that the countless millions of Asia, 
taught European strategy and tactics, equipped 
with modern iron-clads on sea and magazine 
rifles on land, allied perhaps with ambitious 
western nations, and under the leadership of some 
second Napoleon, shall swarm upon our shores 
for the purpose of blotting out our religion and 
representative government, will not our de- 
scendants then, standing together in their hour 
of need, irrespective of the side on which their 
ancestors fought in our Civil War, pray to the 
god of battles to raise up a Robert E. Lee to 
command their armies, and a Hampton to han- 
dle the cavalry? But Providence usually helps 



HAMPTON AND HIS CA VALBT. 429 

those only who help themselves. Is it not 
advisable, then, to study the methods of the lead- 
ers, and to learn of the courage and endurance 
of the soldiers which made the campaign of 
" 1864" in splendor inferior to none recorded 
in history ? 

" Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet, 
Lest we forget ! lest we forget, ! " 



THE END. 



INDEX. 



Page. 

Alger, Colonel Fifth Michigan cavalry, 165 

Armament of the cavalry of the Army of 

Northern Virginia, 91, 96 

Armament of the cavalry of the Army of the 

Potomac, 94 

Army of Northern Virginia, 78, 104, 130, 136 

Army of the Potomac, 

78, 108, 109, 126, 134, 176 to 185 

Army of the James, commanded by Ben. 

Butler, 231 

Army of Johnston's — at Fayetteville, 30; con- 
ference with Sherman, 421 ; surrender, 424 

Army and Navy Gazette, extract from issue 

of October 8, 1864, 321 

Ashland, fight at, 173 

Bancroft, George, historian, 18 

Bamberg, Lieutenant, 52 

" Baby-eater," 61 

Barker, Major Theodore G., A. A. G., 265, 335 

Bear hunter, Hampton as, 47 



ii 



INDEX. 



Belfield, cavalry headquarters at, 387 

Blackwater river, 289, 303 

Brandy Station, battle of, 68 

Breech-loaders, 92, 147 

" Buckland Races," 416 



Butler's brigade, 126, 142, 157, 158, 162, 

166, 167, 168, 170, 171, 172, 213, 278, 388 
Butler's division, 

277, 3i8, 338, 339. 388, 389, 393 to 425 
Butler, General Ben. F., 114, 115, 244, 314, 

317, 327,356, 368, 381 
Butler, General Matthew Calbraith, 33, 52, 
63, 67,68,71, 142,170, 203, 279,333, 

334, 373, 397, 404, 410 
Burgess Mill, battle of, 323, 335 to 344 

Cashier's Valley (Hampton mountain home), 

38 to 41, 44, 45 

Cattle-raid, 288 
Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, 
78 to 104, 137, 142 to 146, 147 to 

152, 267, 268 to 270, 358 
Cavalry of the Army of the Potomac, 94, 1 34, 

146, 147, 267, 268, 359 
Challenge to Kilpatrick, 423 
Chambliss, General, killed, 272, 274 



INDEX. 



iii 



Chambliss' brigade, 145, 217, 245 

Chew, Major, 204, 237, 341 

Chambersburg raid, 56 to 68 

City Point, headquarters Army of the 

Potomac, 287, 288 
Cobb Legion, 52, 142 
Comparison between Hampton and Sheri- 
dan, 223 to 228 
Conner, General James, 52, 284 
Cold Harbor, battle of, 175 to 181 
Conscription, 314 
Cotton crop of Hampton in i860, 46 
Custer, General, 162, 198, 199, 213, 419, 420 

Dahlgren raid, 108 to 123 
Davis, Jefferson, escort of, 394; conference 

with General Johnston, 421 

Day, David, the spy, 35 

Dearing's brigade, 269, 330, 336 

Diary of a Federal prisoner taken at Tre- 

vilian, 212, 213 

Dunovant, General, 278 ; death, 321 

Duties of the cavalry, 81 

Eutaw, battle of, 10 

Eleventh Virginia cavalry, 142 

28 



iv 



INDEX. 



Fair lady, 402 
Fayetteville, charge of Hampton at, 30 to 36 

Five Forks, battle of, 324, 358 to 361 ; or- 
ganization and strength of cavalry 
corps at, 358 ; strength of the Federal 
force at, 359 '; letter of Lee to Hamp- 
ton about, dated August 1, 1865, 361, 362 
Fisherman, Hampton as, 41 to 43 

Fontaine, Doctor, death of, 322 
Forage of the cavalry, 99 to 102 

Forrest, Lieutenant-General, 151 
Fourth South Carolina cavalry, 142 
First North Carolina cavalry, 52, 145 

First Virginia cavalry, 142 
Fourth Virginia cavalry, 142 
Fifth Virginia cavalry, 145 
Fifteenth Virginia cavalry, 145 
Fifth North Carolina cavalry, 145 
Fifth South Carolina cavalry, 142 

Gary, General, 52, 217 

Gary's brigade, 146, 171, 217, 219, 220, 270, 273 

Gettysburg, 72 to 75 

Gorden, General, • 138 

Gorden's brigade, 138, 145, 419 

Gregg, General, 146, 218, 219, 220, 267, 270 



INDEX. 



v 



Gregg, strength of division, 326, 369 

Graham's battery, incident in, 318, 319 

Grant, General, 134; correspondence, 314; 
reinforcements, 325 ; at Burgess Mill, 
346; autumn elections, 369; corre- 
spondence with Meade about Hamp- 
ton, 369, 370 



Halsey, Lieutenant, 52 
Hampton, Lieutenant-General Wade — 
birth, 9; ancestry, 10 to 24; at Mill- 
wood, 24; in reconstruction, 25, 26, 
27 ; amiability, 27 ; captures a naked 
prisoner, 27, 28, 29; at Fayetteville 
charge, 29 to 36; at his mountain home, 
37 to 41; sportsman, 40; fisherman, 41 
to 43 ; cotton-planter, 45 to 47 ; bear 
hunter, 47 ; as to States' Rights, 47 
to 5 1; raises the Hampton Legion, 51, 
52; wounded at Manassas, 5 1; wound- 
ed at Seven Pines, 52; transferred to 
cavalry as brigadier-general, 52 ; raid 
in Pope's rear, 55, 56; on Chambers- 
burg raid, 56 to 68 ; Brandy Station, 
68 ; Gettysburg, 72, 77 ; wounded, 75 ; 
not a "West Pointer," 76, 77 ; head- 



INDEX. 



quarters at Milford during winter of 
1 863-1 864, 107; composition and 
strength of his division at that time, 
108 ; marches to attack Kilpatrick and 
Dahlgren, 1 1 1 ; attacks, routs, and 
pursues Kilpatrick, 112 to 115; his 
personal knowledge of the Dahlgren 
papers, 121, 122; reorganization of his 
division, 124 to 126; at the Wilderness 
and Spotsylvania, 136, 137; comman- 
der of the cavalry, 142 to 146; compo- 
sition of his division, 144; composi- 
tion of the corps, 142; strength of 
Hampton's force, 146; Hampton's 
tactics original and new, 148, 149, 150, 
151 ; at Hawes' Shop, 153 to 170; at 
Ashland fight, 173, 174; strategy of his 
fighting, 185 ; in the Trevilian cam- 
paign, 187 to 223; at Nance's Shop 
fight, 219 to 223; crossing James 
river, 223 ; results of Trevilian cam- 
paign, 225 to 228; routing Wilson's 
raiders, 231, 244; at Sappony Church 
fight, 237 ; Meade's letter to Grant 
about Hampton, 234; captures made 
from Wilson, 243 to 246; officially 



INDEX. 



vii 



made corps commander, 260 ; change 
of staff, 265 ; fighting on north side of 
James river, August 16th and 17th, 
270 to 273 ; at battle Reams Station, 
278 to 283 ; Lee's letters about Reams 
Station, 284, 285 ; leading the cattle- 
raid, 2 84 to 303 ; letter from Lee about 
the cattle-raid, 302 ; fighting in the last 
days of September, 313 to 318; letter 
of Lee, 323 ; at battle of Burgess Mill, 
3 24 to 350; letter to Lee and his reply, 
350, 351; letter to Lee, 352 to 354; 
letter from Lee, 354 ; letter of August 
1, 1865, from Lee about the effect of 
Hampton's absence at battle of Five 
Forks, 361, 362; ordered to South 
Carolina, 389; conference, and John- 
ston's despatch to Sherman, 421 
Hampton, Wade, of 1776 and 181 2, 10 to 17 

Hampton, Wade, of Millwood, 17 to 24; his 

famous ride, 21, 22 

Hampton, Wade, Jr., 335, 346 

Hampton, Lieutenant-Colonel Frank, 68, 71 

Hampton, Lieutenant William Preston, 71, 

72, 335, 344, 345, 346 
Hampton's brigade, composition of, 52, 55 



viii INDEX. 

Hampton's division, composition of, 107, 

108, 126, 142, 145 
Hampton's corps, organization of, 142 to 146 

Hampton's Legion, 51 
Hampton's tactics, 148, 149, 150, 151 

Hart's battery, 52, m, 204, 341, 385 

Hart, captain of H. B., wounded, 341 
Hartford Convention, 23, 48 

Hancock, General, 277, 286, 318, 327, 330, 

334, 338, 339, 357 
Hawes' Shop, battle of, 154 to 170 

Heth, General, 319, 334, 336 

Hicksford expedition, 375, 382 to 387 

Hill, General A. P., 278, 279, 280, 330, 351, 

353, 354, 355, 3$4, 3^6 
Hospital supplies, 341 
Horse supply, 97 
" Horse-swap," 379 
Hunter, General, 187, 232 

Inaccuracies in official returns of numbers, 

102, 103, 104, 127, 267, 268, 269 



Jeffords, Lieutenant-Colonel, 
Jeff. Davis Legion, 



335 
52, 142 



INDEX. 



ix 



Kilpatrick, General, raid and rout of, 108 to 
123; rout and capture of camp near 
Fayetteville, N. C, 397 to 415; 



Laurel brigade, 92, 126, 142, 199, 278, 288, 313 

Lee, General Robert E. — anecdote about, 
132, 133; views about Petersburg, 
183; letter from Hampton, 2 1 3 ; letter 
to Hampton about Trevilian, 227, 
228 ; relations with Hampton, 264, 
265 ; official letter to Hampton, 273, 
274 ; communications to Hampton 
and Vance about battle of Reams Sta- 
tion, 285 ; note to Hampton about the 
cattle-raid, 302 ; correspondence with 
Hampton about battle of Burgess Mill, 
350 to 355 ; letter to Hampton about 
battle of Five Forks, 361, 362 ; his re- 
treat from Petersburg, 363 to 367 ; let- 
ter to Mr. Seddon, Secretary of War, 366, 367 

Lee, General Fitzhugh, division, 145, 188, 

200, 201, 202, 214, 220, 223, 227, 241, 242,419 

Lee, General W. H. F... division, 145, 173, 



" Buckland Races, 
Kautz's division, 



416 to 420 



231, 240, 244 



174, 188, 235, 272, 273, 320, 333, 334, 335 



x INDEX 

Lee, General Stephen D., 52 
Lewis battalion, 142 
Logan, General, 52 
Lomax brigade, 145 
Lone damsel, 408, 409, 410 
Losses of Hampton in Trevilian and Wil- 
son raids, 247 
Losses of Sheridan during his command of 

four months, 258, 259 



Madison, Mrs. James, 23, 24 

Magazine rifles, 94, 147 

Mahone, General, 337 
McClure, A. H. K., of Philadelphia Times, 56 to 59 
McGregor's battery, 279, 385 



Meade, General — " Household troops," 109, 
127, 128, 129, 134, 294, 295 ; letter to 
Grant about Hampton, 234; cattle- 
raid, 294, 295, 300; at Burgess Mill, 
346; despatch to Grant about Hicks- 
ford expedition, 386 
Miles, General Nelson A., " looking out " 

at Hatcher's run, 375, 376, 381 

Milford, Hampton's headquarters, 107, 125 

Millwood, the Hampton home, 18, 24 

Mississippi, Hampton's plantations in, 45, 46 



INDEX. xi 

Millen's battalion, 142 
Mountain home of Hampton, 37 to 41 

Muzzle-loaders, 91 to 96 

Naked prisoner, anecdote about, 27 to 29 

Nance's Shop, battle of, 219, 220, 223 

Ninth Virginia cavalry, 145, 245 

New Orleans, battle of, 20, 21 

Numerical strength of Federal and Con- 
federate cavalry, 146, 147, 267 to 270 

Numerical strength at Trevilian, 189, 190 

Official returns, inaccuracy of, 102 to 104 

Organization of Hampton's corps, 142, 145, 146 
Organization of Sheridan's corps, 146, 147 

Petersburg — Commencement of siege, 216; 
strategical position, 230 ; retreat from, 

363 to. 367 

Phillips' Legion, 142 
Picketing experience, 253 to 257 

Pickett, General, at Five Forks, 360 
Pleasanton, General, 66, 134, 149 

Plucky Federal trooper, 380, 381 

Pocketing a frozen eye, 374 
Powder, 96 



xii 



INDEX. 



Position of the Army of Northern Virginia 



and the Army of Potomac at opening 
of the campaign of 1864, 107, 108 

Premium on gold, 314 

Quartermasters, 88, 91 

Raid in Pope's rear, 55 
Raines, Colonel, powder works of at Au- 
gusta, Ga., 96 
Reconstruction period, 25, 26, 27 
Rations of cavalry, 82 to 91., 427 



" Records of the Union and Confederate 

Armies," characteristics of the, 183 to 185 

Relative strength of the Army of Northern 

Virginia and Army of Potomac, 79, 102, 127, 130 

Reams station, Federal lodgment, 274 ; bat- 
tle of, 278 to 283 

Ride of Colonel Hampton from New Orleans, 2 1 

Rosser, General Thomas L.,92,94, 126, 142, 
152, 154, 157, 168, 173, 174, 199,213, 

278, 288, 290, 3T2, 313, 358, 419 



Samaria Church, fight of, 218 to 223 

Sappony Church, fight at, 237, 238 

Scouts, 305 to 3 1 1 

"Sea-power," 428 



INDEX. 



xiii 



Secession, 47 to 51 

Second North Carolina cavalry, 145 
Second Virginia cavalry, 142 
Seventh Georgia cavalry, 142 
Seventh Virginia cavalry, 142 
Sixth Virginia cavalry, 145 
Sixth South Carolina cavalry, 142 
Shadbourne, scout, 302 
Sherman, General Tecumseh, 18, 389, 390, 

413, 421 to 424 
Sheridan, General, to command cavalry corps, 
135 ; Richmond raid, 137 to 141, 146 
to 149, 152 to 169; at Trevilian, 189 
to 212 ; ordered to Shenandoah Val- 
ley, 257; criticism of, 257 to 260; 
numerical strength at Five Forks, 359 
Stuart, General J. E. B., 55 to 74, 107, 138, 142 
Spotsylvania Courthouse, battle of, 151 
Stanton, Secretary of War, 356, 357 

Stony Creek raid, 370, 373 

Swinton's "Army of the Potomac," 176 to 181 

Tactics of Hampton, 148, 149, 150, 151, 425 

Tenth Virginia cavalry, 52, 145 

Third Virginia cavalry, 142 
Third North Carolina cavalry, 145 



xiv INDEX. . 

Thirteenth Virginia cavalry, 145 
Twelfth Virginia cavalry, 142 
Torbert, General, 146, 189, 192, 198, 212, 267 

Trevilian campaign, 187 to 228; official re- 
port of Sheridan, 210, 211, 212; sum- 
mary of results, 223 to 228, 359, 360 

War correspondents, punishment of by 

Stanton, 3 5 6, 357 

Warren, General, 318; at Five Forks, 360; 

Hicksford expedition, 375, 382, 388 

West Point, 76 
Wickham's brigade, 142 
Wilderness, battle of, 136 
Wilson, General James H., 146, 173, 174, 

231 to 245, 267 

Wilson raid, 231 to 245 

Wheeler, Major-General Joseph, 393,408 
White's battalion, 142 
White House threatened, 216 
Women tending the wounded at Trevilian, 209 
Wounded in the rain, 340, 341 



Yellow Tavern, fight at, 
Young, General, wounded, 
Young's brigade, 



138 
174 

126, 142, 174, 389 



B. F. JOHNSON PUBLISHING CO., RICHMOND, VA. 



SOME LEADING SCHOOL BOOKS. 
Of the South. By the South. For the Entire Country, 

n|Tn NF.W — 

IN INCEPTION, DESIGN, AND CREATION. 

STUMPED WITH THE MM OF POPULAR APPROVAL 

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" With malice towards none " the author has traced in a 
Lee's charming manner the birth and progress of our country 
United States up to the present time. The result of her many years' 
Histories. observation in the school room, and patient research 

outside, is a "Primary," a "New School," and a "High 
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publisher, and is, we think, an evidence that their histories are superior to 
those the people have been using. 



A PEW FACTS. 

Lee's History of the United States— Primary, New School, or High School- 
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stone of truth, with new and authenticated matter injected, and bound into 
one attractive volume. Facts and figures taken largely from the Official 
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truth of each chapter is substantiated by reputable authorities cited. Ac- 
knowledged by competent critics to be the most teachable and satisfactory 
school history published for years. A most valuable book of reference. 

Lee's Primary School History of the United States $ .50 

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2. Does it concern you whether or not it tells the truth ? 

3. Is not a truth half told more dangerous than a direct falsehood ? 

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5. How long will the people stand this condition of things ? 



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" SOUTHERN LITERATURE," by Miss Louise Manly, of South Caro- 
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This is one of the hooks referred to in Mr. Minter's able address before 
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SOUTHERN STATES OF THE AMERICAN UNION. By 
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This book is not controversial. Its aim is to reconstruct ideas and 
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"Ilemory Gems," little nuggets of wisdom, which are to be 
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JOHNSON'S READERS. — Johnson's First, Second, Third, 
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Specially Prepared. — These books have been prepared with 
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EC 19 1899 



LRB S it 



